Ecosystem
Historically, there have been four species of amphibia, twelve species of reptiles, thirteen species of fish, 152 species of birds, and forty-two species of mammals found in the environs of Utah Lake. The dumping of raw sewage, destruction of natural habit, hunting, and the introduction of non-native fish species have taken a toll on the native species in and around the lake.
Some of the mammals that live around the lake are the big brown bat, the silver-haired bat, mule deer, Botta's pocket gopher, desert woodrat, and striped skunk. There are seventeen known native mollusca to Utah Lake. Only three were reported in the lake ecosystem in 1969, and one species is extinct. The last living example of the freshwater snail Thickshell pondsnail (Stagnicola utahensis) was reportedly seen in the early 1930s. Four specimens were sent to the Smithsonian Institution in 1911 and the only known location for the snail was Utah Lake.
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