What animals live in the Great Plains?

The Great Plains, a temperate grassland system spanning from Canada to Mexico, supports thousands of plant and animal species but faces threats from agriculture, resource extraction, and invasive species. WWF is implementing conservation strategies for keystone and endangered species, including bison, black-footed ferrets, and prairie dogs, while working with Native Nations and ranchers to restore native grasslands and improve migration corridors for animals like the pronghorn.

• The Great Plains is a vast temperate grassland system covering nearly 700 million acres from Canada to Mexico, characterized by a semi-arid climate with shortgrass prairie in the west and tallgrass prairie in the east. It supports a diverse biological community including 2,900 plant species, 200 bird species, 120 mammal species, 150 reptile and amphibian species, over 100 fish species, and thousands of insect species.
• Native wildlife in the region is threatened by several factors, including the conversion of land for row-crop agriculture, resource extraction, human intolerance, invasive plants (such as shrubs and trees), and non-native diseases.
• Black-tailed prairie dogs serve as a keystone species that supports the broader ecosystem through their grazing and burrowing, which creates habitat for other species and provides food for carnivores like the endangered black-footed ferret. However, prairie dog populations have dropped by more than 90% due to poisoning, habitat conversion, and sylvatic plague.
• The black-footed ferret is critically endangered, with fewer than 300 individuals remaining in the wild, falling short of the 3,000 required for species recovery. Their survival is hindered by sylvatic plague and a dependency on healthy prairie dog colonies for food and shelter.
• Pronghorn migration is being obstructed by energy development, fences, and roads. In response, WWF is working to improve livestock management infrastructure and fencing within migration corridors located in Wyoming and Montana.
• WWF is employing various restoration strategies across the plains, including the use of beaver dam analogs to restore prairie streams, the Sustainable Ranching Initiative to protect grassland bird diversity, and partnerships with Native Nations to restore plowed grasslands for pollinators like the threatened southern plains bumble bee.

APA

WWF International (n.d.). What animals live in the Great Plains? https://www.worldwildlife.org/resources/facts/what-animals-live-in-the-great-plains/

Chicago

WWF International. What animals live in the Great Plains? n.d. https://www.worldwildlife.org/resources/facts/what-animals-live-in-the-great-plains/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=WWF International |title=What animals live in the Great Plains? |url=https://www.worldwildlife.org/resources/facts/what-animals-live-in-the-great-plains/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{wwfinternationalndwhat, author = {{WWF International}}, title = {{What animals live in the Great Plains?}}, institution = {WWF International}, url = {https://www.worldwildlife.org/resources/facts/what-animals-live-in-the-great-plains/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }