AT HOME IN THE WILD
Wildlife in Arkansas
For some who pursue it, Arkansas wildlife watching is about keeping a list, and perhaps capturing an image, of species seen. For some, it means learning more about the life history of a particular kind of animal. For others, it leads to a greater understanding of and appreciation for the relationship between a species and its habitat.
Arkansas encompasses wetlands, slow-moving streams and oxbow lakes on the nation's largest alluvial plain; the lower valley of America's fourth longest river; ridges with a rare east-west orientation in a range of fold-and-fault mountains known as the Ouachitas; limestone caves and clear, swift waters in a region of eroding plateaus called the Ozark Mountains; and the pine-dominated woodlands of a rolling, coastal plain once covered by the Gulf of Mexico.
While some Arkansas wildlife species - white-tailed deer, for example - are spread across the state because they can survive in any of those areas, others are closely tied to a particular habitat. Many of the state's 16 bat species rely on Ozark caves, as do two species of endangered cave crayfish and an endangered cavefish. For its survival, the threatened leopard darter, a small fish, requires clean, flowing water such as that found in the upper Cossatot River in the Ouachitas. There is a terrestrial snail known so far to exist only on Mount Magazine, Arkansas's highest peak.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's list of endangered and threatened species in Arkansas contains 25 animals, most of which are highly specific in their habitat requirements and most of which have benefited from habitat preservation efforts in the Natural State. The presence of two of the state's more sought-after mammals - the elk and the American black bear - is due to restocking efforts by the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, as well as habitat preservation work.
In addition to Arkansas's birds, more than 70 kinds of mammals, close to 115 reptiles and amphibians and more than 155 butterflies are among the species awaiting wildlife watchers within the state. Additional sought-after species include American alligators, red and gray foxes, bobcats, coyotes, nine-banded armadillos, North American river otters, muskrats, American mink, American beaver, bats, Virginia opossums, raccoons and several species each of rabbits and squirrels.
LOCATIONS OF WILDLIFE IN ARKANSAS
Arkansas wildlife watchers need access to varied and sufficiently sized habitats. The national wildlife refuges, national forests, Arkansas wildlife management areas and nature centers, state parks, National Park Service lands and state natural areas scattered within Arkansas's borders provide an abundance of public land on which the state's visitors and residents can observe and photograph wild creatures. Visit the places section of this Web site for more information.
RESOURCES FOR WILDLIFE IN ARKANSAS
The Arkansas Watchable Wildlife Guide, a publication of the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, provides detailed information, including directions and information as to resident species, on 89 of the best locations for viewing wildlife in Arkansas. It is available by mail for $7 at Publication Sales, Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, 2 Natural Resources Drive, Little Rock AR 72205. It can be purchased in person for $5 at that address or at any of the commission's regional offices.
The books Arkansas Mammals: Their Natural History, Classification, and Distribution by John A. Sealander and Gary A. Heidt and The Amphibians and Reptiles of Arkansas by Stanley E. Trauth, Henry W. Robison and Michael V. Plummer contain many color photographs and are available in local bookstores and on-line from the University of Arkansas Press.
Wildlife-related events are hosted throughout the year by Arkansas's state parks, towns and other entities. Arkansas wildlife tours are offered by state parks and private businesses.
ADDITIONAL LINKS