RDR2 legendary animals: where to find all 16 and what their pelts get you

RDR2 legendary animals are 16 unusually large and rare creatures, each tied to one spot on the map. Hunting them opens in Chapter 2: in the mission "Exit Pursued by a Bruised Ego", Hosea sends Arthur after the legendary bear and hands him a general map. You will find it in your satchel under Documents → Maps → Legendary Animal Map. Guides note the map is incomplete — the alligator, for one, is missing — so use the table below instead.

When you ride into an animal’s area, a notice about legendary animal territory pops up in the corner of the screen. Switch on Eagle Eye and follow the clues; the last one leads you to the animal. A legendary pelt is always perfect and has no quality rating. If you lose it, it goes to the Trapper automatically.

A tip from the guides: tag the animal with Dead Eye before you shoot. If no clues show up, set up camp, sleep and come back.

Locations and conditions are based on Red Dead Wiki, Fextralife and PowerPyx; different guides label the spots by neighbouring landmarks. Fence parts are based on RDR2.org and PowerPyx. * Trapper item names come from the Vandal guide (a single source); in the game each name starts with "Legendary". For a more detailed look at the regions, see the RDR2 map.

You can’t sell a legendary pelt at a general store — it goes to the Trapper. His shop is in Saint Denis, and he also has a few tents out in the wilderness. The Trapper takes the pelt and unlocks unique items for it: hats, coats, vests, gloves, moccasins. You still have to pay money for the clothing itself — the pelt only unlocks the recipe.

Some items need two pelts: the Cougar/Wolf Vest, for example, takes the cougar and the wolf, and the Boar & Bison Fowlers take the boar and the Tatanka bison. So if you want the full wardrobe, plan to hunt all 16, not just the five you need for 100%.

Besides the pelt, each legendary animal drops a special part — a claw, fang, horn or heart. You don’t sell it to the Trapper but to the Fence, who deals in stolen goods. He crafts it into trinkets and talismans — accessories with permanent bonuses. A trinket usually needs one legendary part plus a fee; a talisman also needs rare items.

Effects are based on RDR2.org and PowerPyx; these guides describe the cougar and panther bonuses differently, so we leave them out.

For 100% completion in RDR2 you only need to hunt any 5 legendary animals out of 16. The easiest way is to take five of the Chapter 2 animals in Ambarino and New Hanover — they are close to each other. For the rest of the requirements, see how to get 100% in RDR2.

Legendary animals also show up in the Compendium, but according to PowerPyx they are not needed for the Zoologist and Skin Deep achievements. On top of the 16 animals there are 13 legendary fish — those and the other collections are covered on the RDR2 collectibles page.