Endangered Species in Grand Canyon National Park

 by Lisa Winters, Research and Stewardship Volunteer Coordinator

From ponderosa pine trees and Kaibab squirrels on the north rim of the Grand Canyon to prickly pear cactus and bighorn sheep along the Colorado River, life in the mile-deep chasm spans across forests, deserts, and streams. But having a national park for a home doesn’t automatically mean these species are safe. Air and noise pollution, fire suppression, climate change, invasive species, and dam operations continue to challenge the way that native species live. 

Today, Endangered Species Day, we pay tribute to a few of the Grand Canyon’s rare species.

Humpback chub

Status: Endangered

Once prevalent throughout the Colorado River Basin, the humpback chub was federally listed as endangered in 1967 due to dams and water diversions. Prior to the construction of Glen Canyon Dam, this desert fish lived with huge spring floods and muddy waters, happily feeding on insects and avoiding the largest Colorado pikeminnow predators. Now, cold, clear water is steadily released from the depths of Lake Powell through Glen Canyon Dam, and non-native rainbow trout compete with them for resources. You can still find this silvery minnow, known for the fleshy hump behind its head, around the Little Colorado River near the confluence with the Colorado River.

Kanab ambersnail

Status: Endangered

This terrestrial snail with an amber-colored shell can only be found in two places: a small pond near Kanab, Utah, and a large spring along the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon called Vasey’s Paradise. The ambersnail is dependent on wetland vegetation — it scrapes fungi and algae off of plants with its radula (rough tongue). Today, experimental dam releases wash away slow-moving snails and their habitat, unless they are first moved to higher ground. 

Big-eared bats

Status: Species of concern

Over 20 bat species live in the Grand Canyon. They use echolocation to find insects and navigate through the inky night skies. A single bat may eat 100 mosquitoes in a night! Both the Townsend’s big-eared bat and Allen’s big-eared bat are species of concern, likely imperiled due to white nose syndrome, a fungus that is killing millions of bats as it spreads across the country. 

Kaibab swallowtail butterfly

Status: Rare

The Kaibab swallowtail butterfly is found only on the north rim of the park. This large black butterfly with shimmery blue accents on its lower wings joins almost 300 species of butterflies and moths that pollinate flowering plants in the canyon. Small but important, pollinators are in decline due to habitat loss and pesticide use. You can tell a moth and butterfly apart with context clues: moths are typically active at night and hold their wings down over their back, whereas butterflies are active during the day and fold their wings upright.

All species play a role 

There are more threatened and endangered species in the canyon than just those listed above, and the list is changing as we continue to put pressure on the Earth and its resources.

Recently, a United Nations report came out with some startling news: up to one million species around the globe are imperiled and facing extinction. One million different plants and animals here on Earth may disappear forever — and quickly.

The impacts of species loss can be devastating. As a sixth grader from Flagstaff, Arizona aptly described:

 …everything relies on each other, and if one animal, plant, or some part of the food web disappears, it can have a great impact on the environment.” 

As we commemorate the last century of Grand Canyon National Park, we must ask ourselves: what species do we want to still be there a hundred years from now?