British Columbia Wildlife Photo Tour

BC has a lot of wildlife, with many natural areas set aside to protect it from hunting and development.

Photo:  Grizzly Bears at the BC Grizzly Bear Sanctuary

photographer Heather and Mike, used with permission under CC BY-ND 2.0

Photo:  Black Bear in or near Marble Range Provincial Park, BC

photographer Echo Valley Ranch, used with permission under CC BY-ND 2.0

Photo:  Cougar at night

The BC Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure uses wildlife cameras to help confirm the effectiveness of its wildlife protection initiatives.

The cameras capture some pretty rare sights, like this cougar prowling in the Southern Interior in 2011.

photographer B.C. Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure, used with permission under CC BY-ND 2.0

Photo:  Steller Sea Lions at Telegraph Cove, BC

photographer Nicole Beaulac, used with permission under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Photo:  American Bison at Lower Post, BC

photographer Bruce McKay, used with permission under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Photo:  Orca (killer whale) pod including a male, two females and a calf near Vancouver Island, BC

photographer Thomas Hubauer, used with permission under CC 2.0

Photo:  Sea Otters at the Vancouver Aquarium in Stanley Park

Sea otters were nearly hunted to extinction during the European fur trade (1700's to 1800's).  They have the thickest fur of any mammal with 600,000 hairs per square inch.  This makes their fur very soft and quite waterproof.  Thankfully, measures were implemented to save these cute little marine mammals and we can still see them today.  They're tough to find in the wild as they are fairly small (about 4 feet long) and spend most of their time at sea.

photographer Márcio Cabral de Moura, used with permission under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0