Thousand Islands National Park area to defend the British from American invasion. Inside the park, Cedar Island, a small island visible from downtown Kingston, Ontario, is the site of a Martello tower named Cathcart Tower. The park was established in 1904, the first Canadian national park east of the Rocky Mountains. It was called "St. Lawrence Islands National Park" until 2013, when it was renamed to "Thousand Islands National Park" to reflect the natural area in the name. In 1997, the park was named one of the national parks with the highest levels of ecological impairment. Animals that inhabit this national park are coyotes,
North American river otter American riverotters are characteristically small or are a type species found in riparian zones. The few occurrences of mammals found in the North American river otter's diet include: muskrats ("Ondatra zibethicus"); meadow voles ("Microtus pennsylvanicus"); eastern cottontails ("Sylvilagus floridanus"); and snowshoe hares ("Lepus americanus"). Records of North American otters preying upon North American beavers ("Castor canadensis") vary; it has been reported in the southern boreal forest of Manitoba. Trappers in Alberta, Canada commonly assert North American river otters are major predators of North American beavers. A 1994 river otter study reported findings of beaver remains in 27 of 1,191 scats