HighAlaska

Alaska is home to some of the most diverse wildlife in America. Instead of squirrel problems, Anchorage residents complain about the rampant Moose and Bears that have been known to hang out inside city limits. In fact, 98 of the United States’ grizzly population resides in Alaska. These bears, technically called the Ursus arctos, can weigh anywhere from 500 to 1,400 pounds as an adult. Apart from traditional grizzly and black bears, more localized bearsthe Polar bear for examplecan be found among the northern region of Alaska. In addition to the bears, Alaska is also home to millions of real life Reindeer and Caribou (Reindeer are domesticated herds of Caribou). These herds of animals don’t carry Santa’s sleigh or have red noses, they simply roam the grounds as nomads, covering over 3,000 miles in a year. The coastal waters of Alaska are filled with an estimated 70,000 sea ottersmore than 90 of the world’s sea otter population. These otters share the waves with a wide variety of whales and dolphins. There are Dall’s and Harbor Porpoises, Pacific Whitesided dolphins, Beaked, Beluga, Bowhead, Fin, Humpback, Gray, Minke, Sperm, and Killer Whales to name a few.
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Thanks to children’s books and inaccurate stories, most American’s are lead to believe Eskimos are tiny people who dress in fur hoods and live in igloos made of ice. Fortunately for most modern day Eskimos, this stereotype doesn’t hold true. The true definition of an Eskimo is an indigenous person who traditionally lived around the polar areas of Siberia, Alaska, Canada, and Greenland. The two main groups of Eskimos todayYupik and Inuitboth currently reside in Alaska. The Inuit mostly live in northern Alaska, Canada, and Greenland, and the Yupik live in western Alaska, South Central Alaska, and the Russian Far East. The term ‘Eskimo’ is typically associated with negative connotations by the natives, who prefer the term Inuit. This is understandable’Eskimo’ roughly translates to ‘eaters of raw flesh’ whereas ‘Inuit’ means ‘the people’. Though the Inuit are widely dispersed, they only number around 60,000 in population with 25,000-35,000 of them residing in Alaska. Inuit in Alaska speak a local version of the Inuit language called Inupiaq.
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