page_title: Great Smoky Mountains
section_title: Fauna
hierarchical_section_title: Great Smoky Mountains / Fauna
caption_attribution_description: English: Watercolor of the brook trout by SF Denton.
context_page_description: The Great Smoky Mountains are a mountain range rising along the Tennessee–North Carolina border in the southeastern United States. They are a subrange of the Appalachian Mountains, and form part of the Blue Ridge Physiographic Province. The range is sometimes called the Smoky Mountains and the name is commonly shortened to the Smokies. The Great Smokies are best known as the home of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, which protects most of the range. The park was established in 1934, and, with over 11 million visits per year, it is the most visited national park in the United States.
  The Great Smokies are part of an International Biosphere Reserve. The range is home to an estimated 187,000 acres of old growth forest, constituting the largest such stand east of the Mississippi River. The cove hardwood forests in the range's lower elevations are among the most diverse ecosystems in North America, and the Southern Appalachian spruce-fir forest that coats the range's upper elevations is the largest of its kind. The Great Smokies are also home to the densest black bear population in the Eastern United States and the most diverse salamander population outside of the tropics.
context_section_description: The Great Smoky Mountains are home to 66 species of mammals, over 240 species of birds, 43 species of amphibians, 60 species of fish, and 40 species of reptiles.  The range has the densest black bear population east of the Mississippi River.  The black bear has come to symbolize wildlife in the Smokies, and the animal frequently appears on the covers of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park's literature.  Most of the range's adult eastern black bears weigh between 100 pounds (45 kg) and 300 pounds (140 kg), although some grow to more than 500 pounds (230 kg).
  Other mammals in the Great Smokies include the white-tailed deer, the population of which drastically expanded with the creation of the national park.  The bobcat is the range's only remaining wild cat species, although sightings of cougars, which once thrived in the area, are still occasionally reported. The coyote is not believed to be native to the range, but has moved into the area in recent years and is treated as a native species. Wolf packs do not roam this region due to extirpation. They modernly reside in Alaska, portions of the Great Lakes region, all northwestern American states and Canada. Two species of fox (red fox and the gray fox) are found within the Smokies, with red foxes being documented at all elevations. 
  European boar, introduced as game animals in the early 20th century, thrive in Southern Appalachia but are considered a nuisance due to their tendency to root up and destroy plants. The boars are seen as taking food resources away from bears as well, and the park service has sponsored a program that pays individuals to hunt and kill boars and leave their bodies in locations frequented by bears. 
  The Smokies are home to over two dozen species of rodents, including the endangered northern flying squirrel, and 10 species of bats, including the endangered Indiana bat. The National Park Service has successfully reintroduced river otters and elk into the Great Smokies.  An attempt to reintroduce the red wolf in the early 1990s ultimately failed. These wolves were removed from the park and relocated to the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge in North Carolina. 
  The Smokies are home to a diverse bird population due to the presence of multiple forest types.  Species that thrive in southern hardwood forests, such as the red-eyed vireo, wood thrush, wild turkey, northern parula, ruby-throated hummingbird, and tufted titmouse, are found throughout the range's lower elevations and cove hardwood forests.  Species more typical of cooler climates, such as the raven, winter wren, black-capped chickadee, yellow-bellied sapsucker, dark-eyed junco, and Blackburnian, chestnut-sided, and Canada warblers, are found in the range's spruce-fir and northern hardwood zones.  
  Ovenbirds, whip-poor-wills, and downy woodpeckers live in the drier pine-oak forests and heath balds. Bald eagles and golden eagles have been spotted at all elevations in the park. Peregrine falcon sightings are also not uncommon, and a peregrine falcon eyrie is known to have existed near Alum Cave Bluffs throughout the 1930s. Red-tailed hawks, the most common hawk species, have been sighted at all elevations in the range. Owl species residing in the Smokies include the barred owl, eastern screech-owl, and northern saw-whet owl.
  Timber rattlesnakes—one of two venomous snake species in the Smokies—are found at all elevations in the range.  The other venomous snake, the copperhead, is typically found at lower elevations.  Other reptiles include the eastern box turtle, the eastern fence lizard, the black rat snake, and the northern water snake.
  The Great Smokies are home to one of the world's most diverse salamander populations. Five of the world's nine families of salamanders are found in the range, consisting of up to thirty-one species. A type of Jordan's salamander known as the redcheeked salamander is found only in the Smokies. The imitator salamander is found only in the Smokies and the nearby Plott Balsams and Great Balsam Mountains.  
  Two other species—the southern gray-cheeked salamande
caption: Brook trout are native to the Great Smoky Mountains.
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