What is the best animal to see in the wild in the United States?

Worth planning a trip around, or worth pulling the car over for. Some of these were nearly gone within living memory.

1. 1
   American Bison

   Reduced to a few hundred by 1889, now the national mammal and back on the plains.
   1000pts
2. 2
   Grizzly Bear

   Yellowstone and Glacier hold the last large populations in the lower 48.
   882pts
3. 3
   Roseate Spoonbill

   A pink wading bird nearly wiped out by the feather trade, now back in the Gulf states.
   764pts
4. 4
   Humpback Whale

   Breaches off both coasts, and feeds cooperatively in Alaskan waters all summer.
   681pts
5. 5
   American Alligator

   Delisted in 1987 and now common enough to appear on Florida golf courses.
   529pts
6. 6
   Pronghorn

   The fastest land animal in the western hemisphere, built to outrun a cheetah that is extinct.
   529pts
7. 7
   California Condor

   Every wild bird alive descends from the 22 individuals taken into captivity in 1987.
   448pts
8. 8
   Sea Otter

   Rafts of them float in California and Alaskan kelp, holding paws while asleep.
   448pts
9. 9
   Cougar

   The most widespread large cat in the Americas, and almost never seen on purpose.
   448pts
10. 10
    Moose

    The largest deer alive, and the animal most likely to make a Maine road trip memorable.
    353pts
11. 11
    West Indian Manatee

    Gathers by the hundred in Florida's warm springs each winter.
    353pts
12. 12
    Bald Eagle

    Now nesting in every state but Hawaii, after coming back from 487 breeding pairs.
    241pts
13. 13
    Gray Wolf

    Reintroduced to Yellowstone in 1995 and audible across the Lamar Valley at dusk.
    240pts
14. 14
    Bighorn Sheep

    Rams collide at speed on desert and mountain slopes through the autumn rut.
    240pts
15. 15
    Elk

    Bugling bulls draw crowds to Rocky Mountain and Great Smoky Mountains each autumn.
    0pts

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