Popular tourist attraction in Vancouver Island

The western side of Vancouver Island hosts a rainforest : Vancouver Island lies in the temperate rainforest biome. On the southern and eastern portions of the island this is characterized by Douglas fir western red cedar arbutus (or madrone) Garry oak salal Oregon grape and manzanita moreover Vancouver Island is the location where the Douglas fir was first recorded by Archibald Menzies Vancouver Island is also the location where some of the tallest Douglas fir were recorded. This southeastern portion of the island is the most heavily populated region of Vancouver Island and a or area for recreation. The northern western and most of the central portions of the island are home to the coniferous big trees associated with British Columbia's coast western hemlock estern red cedar pacific silver fir yellow cedar Douglas fir grand fir Sitka spruce and western white pine. It is also characterised by bigleaf maple red alder sword fern and red huckleberry. The fauna of Vancouver Island is similar to that found on the mainland coast with some notable exceptions and additions.

For example grizzly bears mountain goats moose coyotes foxes skunks porcupines chipmunks and numerous species of small mammals while plentiful on the mainland are absent from Vancouver Island. The island does support most of Canada's Roosevelt elk however and several mammal species and subspecies such as the Vancouver Island marmot and the Vancouver Island wolf are unique to the island.The island's rivers lakes and coastal regions are renowned for their fisheries of trout salmon and Steelhead. 

It has the most concentrated population of cougars in North America. There are also black bears. After near total extirpation by fur traders in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries Sea otters (Enhydra lutris) were protected by international treaty in 1911. Despite protection the remnant population off Vacouver island died out with the last sea otter taken near Kyuquot in 1929. From 1969 to 1972,89 sea otters were flown or shipped from Alaska to the west coast of Vancouver Island. This population expanded to over 3,000 as of 2005 and their range on the island's west coast expanded from Cape Scott in the north to Barkley Sound to the south.

Vancouver Islais in the northeastern Pacific Ocean just off the coast of Canada. It is part of the Canadian province of British Columbia. The island is 460 kilometres (290 mile) in length 100 kilomet (62 mile) in width at its widest point and 32,134 km2 (12,407 sq mile) in area. It is the largest island on the West Coast of North America.