Birds of prey in the park include snowy owls, rough-legged hawks, gyrfalcons, and peregrine falcons, who feed on the lemmings.

[13] Due to the cooling climate brought on by the Little Ice Age Banks Island was most likely deserted until the arrival of the Inuvialuit in the 17th century.

Captain Robert McClure, spent two winters in Mercy Bay on HMS Investigator, while searching for the missing John Franklin's lost expedition between 1850 and 1853.

The Mercy Bay area was visited by the Copper Inuit of Victoria Island to salvage materials left by McClure's party.

[13] Until the fur trade went into decline, fox trapping provided a source of income for people from as far away as the Mackenzie Delta and the North Slope of Alaska.