Common fauna of the modern Loess Hills include white-tail deer, coyote, wild turkey, badger, bobcat, red and gray fox, ringneck pheasant, bobwhite, and red-tailed hawk, some of which were introduced or encouraged by Euro-American settlers. Woodland species are also on the rise in the Loess Hills as the suppression of fire has led to an increase in habitat for forest-dwelling species. Fauna more typical of the pre-settlement Loess Hills, such as the prairie rattlesnake, great plains skink, plains pocket mouse, ornate box turtle and spadefoot toad, are becoming rare and even endangered due to habitat fragmentation as a result of increased development and suppression of fire in prairie remnants and oak savannas. Species such as bobcat have been rebounding, and mountain lions have been recorded in Southwest Iowa in the last decade. Historically, fauna also included American bison, prairie chicken, mule deer, elk, and gray wolf; these were extirpated by the late nineteenth century.
