2024 - Alaska, Canada, and United States Zoo Trip - June/July
- Thread starter Pleistohorse
- Start date
I never have been to Cincinnati. Would you recommend it over Columbus?
Not on this trip, but I would love to do a zoo trip through New England, New York, and eastern Canada and see the zoos of Ontario, Quebec, and New Brunswick.
You got quite a trip planned and a nice itinerary to boot. Good luck with the trip. It's also nice seeing my home zoo has made your list.
Still about 11 days from the start of my southbound travel. Still in Alaska. On May 19th, I visited the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center with my Nieces and Nephew. Here is a review:
First, with my membership lapsed, it cost me $90 dollars for the five of us to enter the facility. This was with discounts for being Alaska Resident/Natives, and a Military Veteran. Without these discounts it would have cost us a bit over $100. That is quite expensive for a somewhat ramshackle native species zoo with a fantastic backdrop and a spectacular brown bear exhibit...but a somewhat utilitarian layout and general exhibit quality. As you can see in the gallery, it is possible (and sometimes easy) to frame your photos of the facility in a manner that might suggest it is more aesthetically pleasing than it actually is. That said the AWCC has a wonderful collection of Alaskan megafauna, a breathtaking location, a world class bear exhibit, and some genuine conservation work in the realms of education, rescue, and rewilding (their commendable support for the restoration of wild Wood Bison to Alaska).
As you enter the facility from the Seward Highway you drive past an enclosure for bull Wood Bison that resembles a boreal parkland environment with a few large trees edging a wet (and well worn) meadow. On this visit it looked as if the enclosure had been partitioned, with members of the AWCC's fairly large Muskox herd inhabiting the space. Once you arrive at the gate, you're robbed of an "entry fee" and drive on through to the parking lot, again with a view of the Wood Bison, the Reindeer, and the Moose enclosures as well. As a special treat (later in the summer) the entry gates are hung with flower baskets and hummingbird feeders and it is common to see Hummingbirds availing themselves of the feeding opportunity.
Once inside the park, my recommendation is to drive directly to the main parking lot then tour the facility on foot. Many visitors however elect to drive through the zoo stopping at the various enclosures, with the Brown Bear exhibit having a genuine parking lot, rather than widend pull-outs you'll find at the Muskox, Wood Bison and bull Elk enclosures. One benefit to driving the park (outside of a frigid winter day) is that you'll be able to easily tour the loop past the Elk and Caribou over to a look-out at the confluence of Portage Creek and the Turnagain Arm. This beautiful spot has a boardwalk with many information signs detailing the geography, history and biology of the area (and the signs compliment the others you'll find along the highway between the zoo's location in Portage and Anchorage about 50 miles up the Turnagain Arm). You'll also have the theoretical opportunity to catch a glimpse of the Cook Inlet's isolated Beluga population as they pursue various migratory fish species riding the high tide to the rivers here at the end of the Turnagain Arm. Noting that: The AWCC is a great facility for birding and especially for seeing Bald Eagles, Ravens, Magpies, and even an occasional Crow, scavenging among the carnivore exhibits and interacting in a natural fashion with the Bears, Wolves, Coyotes, and Foxes.
If you were walking the lower end of the figure eight road system from the parking lot, you'd pass the following exhibits south to north and east to west: First an open wetland exhibit (with a barn) and a brush pile feeding site for orphaned bull Moose. Next we past a very large and open Muskox enclosure, following that we come to the BEARS Walkway that bisects very naturalistic Black Bear and Brown Bear enclosures. Once across the walkway you'll find yourself still between the Black Bear and Brown Bear enclosures with an exciting ground level view of the massive Brown Bears only a few feet away. Leaving the bear exhibits behind you pass into the upper part of the figure eight and can observe three open grassy exhibits for Wood Bison, bull Elk, and Caribou. If you elect to continue the upper figure eight back to the bear enclosures you have a bit of a walk ahead of you...but one rewarding with the fresh air, exercise and spectacular views of the Chugach and Kenai Mountains and the Turnagain Arm dividing them.. If you walk the entire loop or turn back at the bull Elk, once you return to the lower half of the figure eight you come upon the mixed/breeding herd of Wood Bison and be rewarded with the view of a couple dozen of the animals with calves and a large bull or two thrown in. Continuing past the bison we come to a very pleasant (though somewhat hard to photograph Sitka Blacktail Deer enclosure and then past another large, grassy, wet, meadow enclosure of cow Elk and calves. Passing the Elk we come to a new Black Bear exhibit (which on my visit featured a bear twirling a pine log like a baton around it's shoulders and neck). Moving on we come to an exhibit (large for the species) filled with hiding spots and scrub grasses featuring a pair Red Foxes (one the traditional morph and the other a "domestic" black and white colored animal. We move past the foxes and come upon the Coyote exhibit (populated by two energetic Coyotes...but again since the barricades have gone up...not very easy to photograph). Here now we find ourselves behind the gift shop and amongst exhibits of varying quality for Porcupines (three enclosures), a Red Squirrel, a Bald Eagle, a Great Horned Owl, and attached to the rear of the gift shop a densely planted Canada Lynx exhibit. The lynx is rarely seen. Moving around the Gift Shop we pass another couple of bird feeders (Pine Siskins seem to be the most frequent visitor), a demonstration garden, a large enclosure usually occupied by orphaned ungulates (Moose and Muskox most frequently) and then a lightly wooded Grey Wolf exhibit. For years the AWCC did not exhibit wolves...which struck me as a grave oversight in their collection and the zoo's status as Alaska's most visited attraction. A few years ago, the AWCC brought in wolves from a private breeder down in Montana...initially described as "tundra" wolves...I believe that exotic name has been abandoned and now the zoo presents them as what they (and the rest of the species actually) are...Grey Wolves. This small group of four animals contrasts to the legacy of the Alaska Zoo's sibling pack of six wild born native Alaskan wolves removed from a den in a form of non-lethal pretty control. This pack was exciting and education and gradually was managed to extinction by the Alaska Zoo...with no word on when or if the species will return. I appreciate that the Alaska Zoo has not brought in wolves of dubious background but remains ready to house Alaskan wolves in the event orphaned or rescued animals need a home. That said...the AWCC is the only game in town with an opportunity to view this iconic animal...outside of very lucky spotting a wild wolf in the surrounding wilderness. Once we pass the wolves we have another enclosure exhibiting a Black Bear (which can frequently be spotted in the high branches of a Cottonwood Tree) and then across the road a circular enclosure holding a small herd of Reindeer.
Here I might share an unpopular observation of a "problem" I have with an apparent current trend in animal exhibitry. The animals in the zoo do not "belong" to the keepers for their own personal interaction...they are present for the enjoyment and education of the guests (that said I'm probably in the minority who would never refer to zoo animals by personal name as a pet would be and am annoyed, perhaps less in the minority, by people who insist on physically or audibly interacting with the animals <outside of controlled special educational encounters designed to raise additional income for the zoo>...so I have my own quirky biases too). While I understand the idea of the animal's welfare...it doesn't do much for the infrequent visitor if the animal cannot be seen. And I suspect much like Randall in the classic film Clerks...some zoo keepers feel that they have the perfect jobs...if it wasn't for the customers (guests). I have been to the AWCC and the Alaska Zoo several times in the last year and at neither facility have I seen the lynx...since the overgrowth of the exhibits has been allowed. A situation also plaguing the fox exhibit. Additionally the Alaska Zoo appears to have moved the Mountain Goat feeding site from a spot near the fence to the large flat yard atop the rocky slopes from which the goats are rarely glimpsed. The Alaska Zoo has also allowed it's Snow Leopards and Polar Bears to "decide" if they would prefer their on-view exhibits or their off-view dens and yards. I'm conflicted and miffed by this trend. If a zoo wants to be a nice garden walk through the woods were animals might or might not be spotted...fine...lower the admission price (relie instead on big money donors) and present that option to the public. More on that when I review the Alaska Zoo.
Rant over.
The gift shop is well apportioned with Alaskiana themed and more commercial gifts. I purchased a refrigerator magnet commemorating the zoo's contribution to Wood Bison recovery and a neat cardstock map of the zoo with lapel pins representing a few of the animals pined to their enclosures. With my nieces and nephew...I got out under $150. Kids...and, I guess, Uncles who like to spoil them.
Overall...the AWCC is a quality experience. The best exhibit by far is the Brown Bear exhibit. You'd be hard-pressed to find one superior. The worst exhibit is that of Canada Lynx...with the corncrib avian and squirrel exhibits right behind.
Now in a manner of my zoo rating...lets look at the probable ecological aspects of the zoo. The predator / prey balance is outstanding for the larger animals. The Grey Wolves are natural predators of every ungulate species on exhibit. With Wood Bison, Elk, Caribou, Moose, Muskox, and Sitka Blacktail Deer present. The Brown Bears are frequent and natural predators of Moose and Muskox (in my experience both adults and calves)...and I suspect occasional predators of Elk and Bison. The Black Bears are common predators of the Moose calves here in Alaska and I would Elk calves anywhere they co-exist. Both bears are also certain occasional predators of deer fawns. The Coyotes and the Foxes do have many prey species on exhibit. I'm not sure the Sitka Blacktail Deer and the Coyote frequently interact in the wild...although the Coyote is likely a predates the fawns of other Mule Deer subspecies. Both the smaller canines might get lucky with the occasional Red Squirrel but I can't imagine either could rely on the squirrel as a primary prey animal. I give the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center a Probable Ecological Score of 1600. Pretty good for today's generally predator heavy / prey (ungulates) poor zoo collections.
I rate the Alaska WIldlife Conservation Center as a must see.
Now...playing into the illusion of discovery that every zoo awakens within me:
What if the AWCC was a Borneo sized island (sharing the same geography) in the Gulf of Alaska south and west of the mainland of North America? The wolves, the bears and the ungulates, the porcupines, the squirrels, and the eagles would exist in large and natural populations. Ravens, magpies, and crows would also do very well. The eagles would do fine, existing on a primarily maritime diet and scavenging. The coyotes are in trouble...they'd be suppressed by wolves and almost completely lacking in appropriate prey species...unless the coyote can adapt to be a effective scavenger of wolf and bears kills and adapt to perhaps living on the bounty of the island's tidal zones...it's going extinct. The foxes (especially with depleted coyote numbers) has a slightly better chance...being able to rely on the occasional squirrel and the intertidal zones and scavenging the kills of larger predators. The fox is probably also going to benefit better than the coyote on seasonal vegetation and insects. The fox is going to suffer severe predation until the coyote and great-horned owl populations crash or die off. Now imagine this island is similarly populated with fish present on the nearby mainlands (colonized in the same fashion that fish are able), and the birds I've personally observed this year, as well the rodents I've spotted are also present...well then...the probable ecology of this imaginary island greatly expands. The muskrat would live throughout the island in appropriate habitat, the hoary marmot would exist on the slopes of the northern mountain range, the berengian lemming might be successful on the somewhat desolate north coast of the island and without competition from similar species expand into the mountains and the southern portions of the island, and the house mouse? Without an existing native population of rodents competing against it...the species might do very well in the more temperate and coastal areas of the island. The addition of these animals would ensure the survival of the Red Fox, the Coyote, and the Great-Horned Owl on the island of the AWCC. The snowshoe hare would thrive wherever there was sufficient cover and would benefit each of the aforementioned species and be critical to the survival of the Canada Lynx.
I hope you like the review, the musing, and the speculation...and that the rant didn't turn too many of you off. It helps to have a keyboard as opposed to thumbing my phone...so I can't promise my subsequent zoo reviews will be as long...but I will endeavor to make sure they are timely.
Next review will be up in about 12 days and cover the Alaska Zoo.
First, with my membership lapsed, it cost me $90 dollars for the five of us to enter the facility. This was with discounts for being Alaska Resident/Natives, and a Military Veteran. Without these discounts it would have cost us a bit over $100. That is quite expensive for a somewhat ramshackle native species zoo with a fantastic backdrop and a spectacular brown bear exhibit...but a somewhat utilitarian layout and general exhibit quality. As you can see in the gallery, it is possible (and sometimes easy) to frame your photos of the facility in a manner that might suggest it is more aesthetically pleasing than it actually is. That said the AWCC has a wonderful collection of Alaskan megafauna, a breathtaking location, a world class bear exhibit, and some genuine conservation work in the realms of education, rescue, and rewilding (their commendable support for the restoration of wild Wood Bison to Alaska).
As you enter the facility from the Seward Highway you drive past an enclosure for bull Wood Bison that resembles a boreal parkland environment with a few large trees edging a wet (and well worn) meadow. On this visit it looked as if the enclosure had been partitioned, with members of the AWCC's fairly large Muskox herd inhabiting the space. Once you arrive at the gate, you're robbed of an "entry fee" and drive on through to the parking lot, again with a view of the Wood Bison, the Reindeer, and the Moose enclosures as well. As a special treat (later in the summer) the entry gates are hung with flower baskets and hummingbird feeders and it is common to see Hummingbirds availing themselves of the feeding opportunity.
Once inside the park, my recommendation is to drive directly to the main parking lot then tour the facility on foot. Many visitors however elect to drive through the zoo stopping at the various enclosures, with the Brown Bear exhibit having a genuine parking lot, rather than widend pull-outs you'll find at the Muskox, Wood Bison and bull Elk enclosures. One benefit to driving the park (outside of a frigid winter day) is that you'll be able to easily tour the loop past the Elk and Caribou over to a look-out at the confluence of Portage Creek and the Turnagain Arm. This beautiful spot has a boardwalk with many information signs detailing the geography, history and biology of the area (and the signs compliment the others you'll find along the highway between the zoo's location in Portage and Anchorage about 50 miles up the Turnagain Arm). You'll also have the theoretical opportunity to catch a glimpse of the Cook Inlet's isolated Beluga population as they pursue various migratory fish species riding the high tide to the rivers here at the end of the Turnagain Arm. Noting that: The AWCC is a great facility for birding and especially for seeing Bald Eagles, Ravens, Magpies, and even an occasional Crow, scavenging among the carnivore exhibits and interacting in a natural fashion with the Bears, Wolves, Coyotes, and Foxes.
If you were walking the lower end of the figure eight road system from the parking lot, you'd pass the following exhibits south to north and east to west: First an open wetland exhibit (with a barn) and a brush pile feeding site for orphaned bull Moose. Next we past a very large and open Muskox enclosure, following that we come to the BEARS Walkway that bisects very naturalistic Black Bear and Brown Bear enclosures. Once across the walkway you'll find yourself still between the Black Bear and Brown Bear enclosures with an exciting ground level view of the massive Brown Bears only a few feet away. Leaving the bear exhibits behind you pass into the upper part of the figure eight and can observe three open grassy exhibits for Wood Bison, bull Elk, and Caribou. If you elect to continue the upper figure eight back to the bear enclosures you have a bit of a walk ahead of you...but one rewarding with the fresh air, exercise and spectacular views of the Chugach and Kenai Mountains and the Turnagain Arm dividing them.. If you walk the entire loop or turn back at the bull Elk, once you return to the lower half of the figure eight you come upon the mixed/breeding herd of Wood Bison and be rewarded with the view of a couple dozen of the animals with calves and a large bull or two thrown in. Continuing past the bison we come to a very pleasant (though somewhat hard to photograph Sitka Blacktail Deer enclosure and then past another large, grassy, wet, meadow enclosure of cow Elk and calves. Passing the Elk we come to a new Black Bear exhibit (which on my visit featured a bear twirling a pine log like a baton around it's shoulders and neck). Moving on we come to an exhibit (large for the species) filled with hiding spots and scrub grasses featuring a pair Red Foxes (one the traditional morph and the other a "domestic" black and white colored animal. We move past the foxes and come upon the Coyote exhibit (populated by two energetic Coyotes...but again since the barricades have gone up...not very easy to photograph). Here now we find ourselves behind the gift shop and amongst exhibits of varying quality for Porcupines (three enclosures), a Red Squirrel, a Bald Eagle, a Great Horned Owl, and attached to the rear of the gift shop a densely planted Canada Lynx exhibit. The lynx is rarely seen. Moving around the Gift Shop we pass another couple of bird feeders (Pine Siskins seem to be the most frequent visitor), a demonstration garden, a large enclosure usually occupied by orphaned ungulates (Moose and Muskox most frequently) and then a lightly wooded Grey Wolf exhibit. For years the AWCC did not exhibit wolves...which struck me as a grave oversight in their collection and the zoo's status as Alaska's most visited attraction. A few years ago, the AWCC brought in wolves from a private breeder down in Montana...initially described as "tundra" wolves...I believe that exotic name has been abandoned and now the zoo presents them as what they (and the rest of the species actually) are...Grey Wolves. This small group of four animals contrasts to the legacy of the Alaska Zoo's sibling pack of six wild born native Alaskan wolves removed from a den in a form of non-lethal pretty control. This pack was exciting and education and gradually was managed to extinction by the Alaska Zoo...with no word on when or if the species will return. I appreciate that the Alaska Zoo has not brought in wolves of dubious background but remains ready to house Alaskan wolves in the event orphaned or rescued animals need a home. That said...the AWCC is the only game in town with an opportunity to view this iconic animal...outside of very lucky spotting a wild wolf in the surrounding wilderness. Once we pass the wolves we have another enclosure exhibiting a Black Bear (which can frequently be spotted in the high branches of a Cottonwood Tree) and then across the road a circular enclosure holding a small herd of Reindeer.
Here I might share an unpopular observation of a "problem" I have with an apparent current trend in animal exhibitry. The animals in the zoo do not "belong" to the keepers for their own personal interaction...they are present for the enjoyment and education of the guests (that said I'm probably in the minority who would never refer to zoo animals by personal name as a pet would be and am annoyed, perhaps less in the minority, by people who insist on physically or audibly interacting with the animals <outside of controlled special educational encounters designed to raise additional income for the zoo>...so I have my own quirky biases too). While I understand the idea of the animal's welfare...it doesn't do much for the infrequent visitor if the animal cannot be seen. And I suspect much like Randall in the classic film Clerks...some zoo keepers feel that they have the perfect jobs...if it wasn't for the customers (guests). I have been to the AWCC and the Alaska Zoo several times in the last year and at neither facility have I seen the lynx...since the overgrowth of the exhibits has been allowed. A situation also plaguing the fox exhibit. Additionally the Alaska Zoo appears to have moved the Mountain Goat feeding site from a spot near the fence to the large flat yard atop the rocky slopes from which the goats are rarely glimpsed. The Alaska Zoo has also allowed it's Snow Leopards and Polar Bears to "decide" if they would prefer their on-view exhibits or their off-view dens and yards. I'm conflicted and miffed by this trend. If a zoo wants to be a nice garden walk through the woods were animals might or might not be spotted...fine...lower the admission price (relie instead on big money donors) and present that option to the public. More on that when I review the Alaska Zoo.
Rant over.
The gift shop is well apportioned with Alaskiana themed and more commercial gifts. I purchased a refrigerator magnet commemorating the zoo's contribution to Wood Bison recovery and a neat cardstock map of the zoo with lapel pins representing a few of the animals pined to their enclosures. With my nieces and nephew...I got out under $150. Kids...and, I guess, Uncles who like to spoil them.
Overall...the AWCC is a quality experience. The best exhibit by far is the Brown Bear exhibit. You'd be hard-pressed to find one superior. The worst exhibit is that of Canada Lynx...with the corncrib avian and squirrel exhibits right behind.
Now in a manner of my zoo rating...lets look at the probable ecological aspects of the zoo. The predator / prey balance is outstanding for the larger animals. The Grey Wolves are natural predators of every ungulate species on exhibit. With Wood Bison, Elk, Caribou, Moose, Muskox, and Sitka Blacktail Deer present. The Brown Bears are frequent and natural predators of Moose and Muskox (in my experience both adults and calves)...and I suspect occasional predators of Elk and Bison. The Black Bears are common predators of the Moose calves here in Alaska and I would Elk calves anywhere they co-exist. Both bears are also certain occasional predators of deer fawns. The Coyotes and the Foxes do have many prey species on exhibit. I'm not sure the Sitka Blacktail Deer and the Coyote frequently interact in the wild...although the Coyote is likely a predates the fawns of other Mule Deer subspecies. Both the smaller canines might get lucky with the occasional Red Squirrel but I can't imagine either could rely on the squirrel as a primary prey animal. I give the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center a Probable Ecological Score of 1600. Pretty good for today's generally predator heavy / prey (ungulates) poor zoo collections.
I rate the Alaska WIldlife Conservation Center as a must see.
Now...playing into the illusion of discovery that every zoo awakens within me:
What if the AWCC was a Borneo sized island (sharing the same geography) in the Gulf of Alaska south and west of the mainland of North America? The wolves, the bears and the ungulates, the porcupines, the squirrels, and the eagles would exist in large and natural populations. Ravens, magpies, and crows would also do very well. The eagles would do fine, existing on a primarily maritime diet and scavenging. The coyotes are in trouble...they'd be suppressed by wolves and almost completely lacking in appropriate prey species...unless the coyote can adapt to be a effective scavenger of wolf and bears kills and adapt to perhaps living on the bounty of the island's tidal zones...it's going extinct. The foxes (especially with depleted coyote numbers) has a slightly better chance...being able to rely on the occasional squirrel and the intertidal zones and scavenging the kills of larger predators. The fox is probably also going to benefit better than the coyote on seasonal vegetation and insects. The fox is going to suffer severe predation until the coyote and great-horned owl populations crash or die off. Now imagine this island is similarly populated with fish present on the nearby mainlands (colonized in the same fashion that fish are able), and the birds I've personally observed this year, as well the rodents I've spotted are also present...well then...the probable ecology of this imaginary island greatly expands. The muskrat would live throughout the island in appropriate habitat, the hoary marmot would exist on the slopes of the northern mountain range, the berengian lemming might be successful on the somewhat desolate north coast of the island and without competition from similar species expand into the mountains and the southern portions of the island, and the house mouse? Without an existing native population of rodents competing against it...the species might do very well in the more temperate and coastal areas of the island. The addition of these animals would ensure the survival of the Red Fox, the Coyote, and the Great-Horned Owl on the island of the AWCC. The snowshoe hare would thrive wherever there was sufficient cover and would benefit each of the aforementioned species and be critical to the survival of the Canada Lynx.
I hope you like the review, the musing, and the speculation...and that the rant didn't turn too many of you off. It helps to have a keyboard as opposed to thumbing my phone...so I can't promise my subsequent zoo reviews will be as long...but I will endeavor to make sure they are timely.
Next review will be up in about 12 days and cover the Alaska Zoo.
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Geez...my apologies for the typos in spelling and punctuation...
The trip starts tomorrow. This time tomorrow night I should be in Whitehorse, Yukon and perhaps posting a review of the Kluane Museum of Natural History and maybe even the Beringia Interpretive Center.
Yesterday, on a miserable rainy day, I visited The Alaska Zoo and .... I was pleasantly surprised to find myself drifting from nostalgia for golden ages and falling back into fondness for this small little zoo in Alaska's biggest city.
By default of living in Alaska for 19 years (by far the longest I've ever lived anywhere else...previous record was Texas at 8 years), the Alaska Zoo is the zoo I have visited more often than any other. In my earlier review of the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center, I remarked at how the Alaska Zoo's Exhibitry had declined from the point of actually seeing the animals...I chalked some of that up to the fact that I no longer visit several times a month since moving out of Anchorage up to the MatSu. Some of it...the other is that...the exhibitory of certain species has declined. On this trip, I did not observe any of the cats and only half the weasels.
19 years...a has changed. Most especially the collection. The following species have gone extinct at the Alaska Zoo:
Quail, American Crow, Black-billed Magpie, Northern Hawk Owl, Boreal Owl. Snowy Owl, Northern Flying Squirrel, Hoary Marmot, Raccoon, American Red Squirrel, Arctic Fox, Northern Goshawk, Domestic Sheep, Turkey, Domestic Ass, Grey Wolf, Amur Tiger, "Glacier" Bear, Dall Sheep, Arctic Ground Squirrel, and African Elephant.
Amur Tigers should be "reintroduced" soon and I suspect that wolves will someday make a reappearance once the Alaska Department of Fish and Game predator control program comes upon a litter they'd like to transfer.
As said, I visited the zoo on a rainy early summer day and the grounds were green and lush. Walking through the Alaska Zoo is like walking through the forest along a wide gravel path. The sound of dripping water is everywhere and near the restored Campbell Creek you can here the water running over rocks in rills and small falls. The effect is quite nice.
The Zoo is made up of several exhibit "complexes." You enter the zoo through the new (about 10 - 12 years now) multi-million dollar entrance complex and most visitors track right, although to the immediate left is the Pacific Harbor Seal. To the right is the Polar Bear Complex...currently home to two Polar Bears...allegedly I thought to myself...as the bears have (as of late) been provided the option of using their off-view habitat, instead of the habitat in public view. So as has happened in my last few visits I did not expect to see the bears. I was not wrong. I walked past the empty exhibit and viewed the grave site of Annabelle, the Asian Elephant which founded The Alaska Zoo. After a moment's contemplation...I moved on to the Wolverines and heard as a walked away, a loud "chuff". I turned back toward the Polar Bear exhibit and was rewarded with a view of the younger bear (an orphaned cub rescued from the shores of the Beaufort Sea) walking along the gate to the "dens" chuffing at the second older bear.
I moved along to the Wolverines (always energetic and romping through their large wooded exhibit) and stopped to view the Peregrine Falcon across the path. From the Wolverine's and Falcon we come to the Canada Lynx Exhibit...and the lynx was not on view. I believe The Alaska Zoo must be hearing some grumbles, because the extensive vegetation in the exhibit had been cut back and a sign posted given visitors advice on ensuring they have a better chance of spotting the animal.
We then come to the next "complex" just off the old zoo plaza. Here we find very nice exhibits for Sitka Black-tailed Deer, a Golden Eagle, two Ravens, an Ermine (rarely seen), a Golden Eagle, and a Great Grey Owl, just beyond as we start the walk down towards the creek, we past the Muskox Paddocks, a well (too well) grown Red Fox exhibit (only ever glimpsed in winter), and a large aviary for a single Great Horned Owl.
Turning right we come across a Sharp-shinned Hawk, a trio of Porcupines and a few exotic domestics (Yaks, Alpacas, and Bactrian Camels). Walking further down the hill we pass a small group of Caribou (who looked pretty cool with their rain-soaked fur dripping water) and a fairly large Black Bear Exhibit. The elevated walkway provides a view of the bears on one side and on the other a "treetop" view of the Bald Eagle Aviary. At the end of the walkway, we find ourselves facing the former Amur Tiger Exhibit and turning left we come to the Coyotes and the Moose. The Moose exhibit is large and wraps around the flow of Campbell Creek. The exhibit is a nice mix of open space with a thickly wooded section on one end. We are also now a the ground level of the Bald Eagle Aviary. This eagle exhibit is probably my favorite of all I've seen for this species.... except for maybe the Lee G. Simmon's example in Nebraska.
We are now in my favorite part of the zoo, standing in a small valley with the newly restored Campbell Creek flowing through the thick undergrowth. A breeding pair of Trumpeter Swans share a fenced off section of the creek. The Old Elephant House is here and not memorialized in any way...it's quite good education sign locked away in a building likely turned over to storage. The former elephant yard has been rehabbed and now sprouts a small grove of young trees about which the Campbell Creek bends and flows.
Across from the Elephant House, we have what might be the best current exhibit at the zoo. About a third of an acre of wooded, grassy, rocky slope for a trio of Mountain Goats. On my visit I was lucky and all three goats were on view. Beyond the goats we have an exhibit for Snow Leopards...the leopards were not on view and then a small boardwalk to the Brown Bear Exhibit. It is nice exhibit and after the eagle and the Mountain Goats is among the zoo's best.
Another long boardwalk over the creek brings us back to the eagle and Coyotes, up the hill past the old tiger exhibit and the Great Horned Owl and into a memorial plaza, all the more poignant with the large Grey Wolf Exhibit sitting empty...although still seemingly haunted by the sibling pack of wild Alaskan wolves who lived their lives here. Also poignantly, we are at a service gate leading to the former stables (land which the Alaska Zoo has acquired) that used to house Horses. From the Tiger Walkway you could once upon a time look past the Grey Wolf Exhibit and see the Horses beyond and for a moment imagine Beringia...will the zoo use the additional acres to build a cracking Beringia Exhibit? Not likely....
Nearing the top of the zoo and the old entrance plaza, we pass an orphan facility holding three Moose calves and the a Red Tailed Hawk, some Domestic Goats, Rabbits, and Chickens, a Short-eared Owl and then the River Otters, the Harbor Seals and the exit.
More to come...time for a nap....0200 departure coming up.
Yesterday, on a miserable rainy day, I visited The Alaska Zoo and .... I was pleasantly surprised to find myself drifting from nostalgia for golden ages and falling back into fondness for this small little zoo in Alaska's biggest city.
By default of living in Alaska for 19 years (by far the longest I've ever lived anywhere else...previous record was Texas at 8 years), the Alaska Zoo is the zoo I have visited more often than any other. In my earlier review of the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center, I remarked at how the Alaska Zoo's Exhibitry had declined from the point of actually seeing the animals...I chalked some of that up to the fact that I no longer visit several times a month since moving out of Anchorage up to the MatSu. Some of it...the other is that...the exhibitory of certain species has declined. On this trip, I did not observe any of the cats and only half the weasels.
19 years...a has changed. Most especially the collection. The following species have gone extinct at the Alaska Zoo:
Quail, American Crow, Black-billed Magpie, Northern Hawk Owl, Boreal Owl. Snowy Owl, Northern Flying Squirrel, Hoary Marmot, Raccoon, American Red Squirrel, Arctic Fox, Northern Goshawk, Domestic Sheep, Turkey, Domestic Ass, Grey Wolf, Amur Tiger, "Glacier" Bear, Dall Sheep, Arctic Ground Squirrel, and African Elephant.
Amur Tigers should be "reintroduced" soon and I suspect that wolves will someday make a reappearance once the Alaska Department of Fish and Game predator control program comes upon a litter they'd like to transfer.
As said, I visited the zoo on a rainy early summer day and the grounds were green and lush. Walking through the Alaska Zoo is like walking through the forest along a wide gravel path. The sound of dripping water is everywhere and near the restored Campbell Creek you can here the water running over rocks in rills and small falls. The effect is quite nice.
The Zoo is made up of several exhibit "complexes." You enter the zoo through the new (about 10 - 12 years now) multi-million dollar entrance complex and most visitors track right, although to the immediate left is the Pacific Harbor Seal. To the right is the Polar Bear Complex...currently home to two Polar Bears...allegedly I thought to myself...as the bears have (as of late) been provided the option of using their off-view habitat, instead of the habitat in public view. So as has happened in my last few visits I did not expect to see the bears. I was not wrong. I walked past the empty exhibit and viewed the grave site of Annabelle, the Asian Elephant which founded The Alaska Zoo. After a moment's contemplation...I moved on to the Wolverines and heard as a walked away, a loud "chuff". I turned back toward the Polar Bear exhibit and was rewarded with a view of the younger bear (an orphaned cub rescued from the shores of the Beaufort Sea) walking along the gate to the "dens" chuffing at the second older bear.
I moved along to the Wolverines (always energetic and romping through their large wooded exhibit) and stopped to view the Peregrine Falcon across the path. From the Wolverine's and Falcon we come to the Canada Lynx Exhibit...and the lynx was not on view. I believe The Alaska Zoo must be hearing some grumbles, because the extensive vegetation in the exhibit had been cut back and a sign posted given visitors advice on ensuring they have a better chance of spotting the animal.
We then come to the next "complex" just off the old zoo plaza. Here we find very nice exhibits for Sitka Black-tailed Deer, a Golden Eagle, two Ravens, an Ermine (rarely seen), a Golden Eagle, and a Great Grey Owl, just beyond as we start the walk down towards the creek, we past the Muskox Paddocks, a well (too well) grown Red Fox exhibit (only ever glimpsed in winter), and a large aviary for a single Great Horned Owl.
Turning right we come across a Sharp-shinned Hawk, a trio of Porcupines and a few exotic domestics (Yaks, Alpacas, and Bactrian Camels). Walking further down the hill we pass a small group of Caribou (who looked pretty cool with their rain-soaked fur dripping water) and a fairly large Black Bear Exhibit. The elevated walkway provides a view of the bears on one side and on the other a "treetop" view of the Bald Eagle Aviary. At the end of the walkway, we find ourselves facing the former Amur Tiger Exhibit and turning left we come to the Coyotes and the Moose. The Moose exhibit is large and wraps around the flow of Campbell Creek. The exhibit is a nice mix of open space with a thickly wooded section on one end. We are also now a the ground level of the Bald Eagle Aviary. This eagle exhibit is probably my favorite of all I've seen for this species.... except for maybe the Lee G. Simmon's example in Nebraska.
We are now in my favorite part of the zoo, standing in a small valley with the newly restored Campbell Creek flowing through the thick undergrowth. A breeding pair of Trumpeter Swans share a fenced off section of the creek. The Old Elephant House is here and not memorialized in any way...it's quite good education sign locked away in a building likely turned over to storage. The former elephant yard has been rehabbed and now sprouts a small grove of young trees about which the Campbell Creek bends and flows.
Across from the Elephant House, we have what might be the best current exhibit at the zoo. About a third of an acre of wooded, grassy, rocky slope for a trio of Mountain Goats. On my visit I was lucky and all three goats were on view. Beyond the goats we have an exhibit for Snow Leopards...the leopards were not on view and then a small boardwalk to the Brown Bear Exhibit. It is nice exhibit and after the eagle and the Mountain Goats is among the zoo's best.
Another long boardwalk over the creek brings us back to the eagle and Coyotes, up the hill past the old tiger exhibit and the Great Horned Owl and into a memorial plaza, all the more poignant with the large Grey Wolf Exhibit sitting empty...although still seemingly haunted by the sibling pack of wild Alaskan wolves who lived their lives here. Also poignantly, we are at a service gate leading to the former stables (land which the Alaska Zoo has acquired) that used to house Horses. From the Tiger Walkway you could once upon a time look past the Grey Wolf Exhibit and see the Horses beyond and for a moment imagine Beringia...will the zoo use the additional acres to build a cracking Beringia Exhibit? Not likely....
Nearing the top of the zoo and the old entrance plaza, we pass an orphan facility holding three Moose calves and the a Red Tailed Hawk, some Domestic Goats, Rabbits, and Chickens, a Short-eared Owl and then the River Otters, the Harbor Seals and the exit.
More to come...time for a nap....0200 departure coming up.
The Alaska Zoo is a fine companion zoo to the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center and I believe to be improving soon….
The Alaska Zoo has a probable ecological score of 550.
The Alaska Zoo has a probable ecological score of 550.
Wisp O' Mist
Well-Known Member
I always did think that the Alaska Zoo would get a lot of mileage out of exhibiting Przewalski's horses.
They wouldn't even need to commit to a breeding herd if transporting the P-Horses to and from Anchorage would be would be financially prohibitive. More bachelor holders are always appreciated! They could bring in a trio or quad of youngsters who the studbook holder has identified as being of genetically over-represented lineages, and then just... house them for the course of their natural lives.
Maybe not the most exciting exhibit, but it would still be a completely new species for the zoo! Plus it would be serving a valuable purpose for the P-Horse SSP. And giving it a Beringia angle would be cool as hell.
Lori Patton
Well-Known Member
Hi @Pleistohorse -- I just stumbled across your thread and your selection of audiobooks piqued my interest. I'm familiar with three of these books and here are my comments on them in order of my most to least favorite.
My Antonia -- I listened to this audiobook some years ago and enjoyed it. I had previously listened to Willa Cather's O Pioneers, which I thought was fantastic. Of the two, I liked O Pioneers better, but My Antonia was very worthwhile and moving. Cather was an excellent narrative author who described landscapes exquisitely and really delved into the relationships of her characters.
Cold Mountain -- I read this book (physical copy not audio) after seeing the movie starring Nicole Kidman. I found the novel to be somewhat taxing to complete and took several months off before finishing. Charles Frazier has a rather pretentious writing style and peppers almost every page with arcane vocabulary most people have never heard of. The book chapters alternate between describing Inman's return home from the Civil War and his love interest Ada learning how to be self-sufficient as a pioneer. In general, I liked the chapters on Ada and her friend Ruby (played by Renee Zellweger in the film), but the chapters on Inman were very depressing. There is a lot of violence in the book and the story doesn't have a happy ending. The author does do an excellent job of describing the Appalachian landscape and portraying rural 19th-century life.
White Fang -- Back in the '90s I watched a Disney movie based on this book and really liked it, so many years later when I saw White Fang on the freebie shelf at the library, I picked it up. Unfortunately, after getting about 3/4 of the way through the book, I had to abandon it -- something I almost never do. The story started out like a Halloween horror tale (I'll leave the details for you to discover) and then started to improve as the wolfdog's adventure unfolded. Jack London was a very good writer with an uncanny ability to get inside the mind of his animal characters. However, the book described some very disturbing incidences of animal abuse, which only grew worse and worse. Eventually, it got to the point where reading the book became too depressing and upsetting to continue. I really tried because there is apparently a happy ending, but I just couldn't stand to read any more about the merciless torture of poor White Fang. A person would have to be very desensitized to violence to get through this book and I can't imagine how it's classified as juvenile literature.
What a great adventure you will have traveling cross country to visit zoos and national parks while listening to classic books! Also, if you like poetry, I recommend Robert Frost as I find his works to be very soothing and evocative at describing nature. Have a fantastic trip!
First day is done. Started out from Alaska at 0228 and arrive in Whitehorse YK a bit after 1730. Road wasn’t too bad. I saw 10 Moose, one Dall Sheep, five American Red Squirrels, two American Beavers, one American Black Bear.
I stopped at the Kluane Museum of History, where about 90% of the exhibits (or more) are devoted to Natural History with numerous dioramas of Yukon Wildlife. I believe my favorite diorama was probably of the Fisher and Porcupine. I think this is likely because while the Fisher is rare in Alaska (and restricted to south-east panhandle of the state), it is relatively common in New England…and no matter where I roam…where I lay my head (in New England) is home….
Pictures of one of the Moose and the exhibits at the Kluane Museum of History are in the gallery. Today will be the Yukon Wildlife Preserve, the Beringia Interpretive Center here in Whitehorse and the Northern Wildlife Gallery in Teslin. The goal today is Watson Lake. Only because services southward on the Cassier Highway are limited and I want to hit that road well rested and early in the day. See if I can make Prince George in one go.
I stopped at the Kluane Museum of History, where about 90% of the exhibits (or more) are devoted to Natural History with numerous dioramas of Yukon Wildlife. I believe my favorite diorama was probably of the Fisher and Porcupine. I think this is likely because while the Fisher is rare in Alaska (and restricted to south-east panhandle of the state), it is relatively common in New England…and no matter where I roam…where I lay my head (in New England) is home….
Pictures of one of the Moose and the exhibits at the Kluane Museum of History are in the gallery. Today will be the Yukon Wildlife Preserve, the Beringia Interpretive Center here in Whitehorse and the Northern Wildlife Gallery in Teslin. The goal today is Watson Lake. Only because services southward on the Cassier Highway are limited and I want to hit that road well rested and early in the day. See if I can make Prince George in one go.
Favorite Quotes from the Audio Books today:
“the Raven since flown away, above the treetops”
“wherever the work stopped, the wilderness was there”
“Do you promise” (crazily enough from my perspective…this is something someone very close to me asked me all the time, to which it was my great joy to always answer “I promise”)
“the joy and sorrow of a lifetime”
“penetrating the land of desolation and mockery”
Be advised (although it is filled with Alaskan Easter eggs, especially if you live there) I’d listen too/read “The Snow Child” by Eowyn Ivey at your own emotional risk. Especially driving through Alaska and the Yukon. Easily the most moving book I’ve listened too since Pat Conroy’s “Beach Music.”
“the Raven since flown away, above the treetops”
“wherever the work stopped, the wilderness was there”
“Do you promise” (crazily enough from my perspective…this is something someone very close to me asked me all the time, to which it was my great joy to always answer “I promise”)
“the joy and sorrow of a lifetime”
“penetrating the land of desolation and mockery”
Be advised (although it is filled with Alaskan Easter eggs, especially if you live there) I’d listen too/read “The Snow Child” by Eowyn Ivey at your own emotional risk. Especially driving through Alaska and the Yukon. Easily the most moving book I’ve listened too since Pat Conroy’s “Beach Music.”
Update:
I expect to visit the following Zoos and Museums as I reach the east coast,
Bronx Zoo
Central Park Zoo
National Zoo
Lowcountry Zoo
Squam Lakes Natural Science Center
Maine Game Farm
York's Wild Kingdom
Trailside Zoo and Museum at Bear Mountain State Park
Peabody Museum of Natural History
American Museum of Natural History
Berkshire Museum
Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences
I expect to visit the following Zoos and Museums as I reach the east coast,
Bronx Zoo
Central Park Zoo
National Zoo
Lowcountry Zoo
Squam Lakes Natural Science Center
Maine Game Farm
York's Wild Kingdom
Trailside Zoo and Museum at Bear Mountain State Park
Peabody Museum of Natural History
American Museum of Natural History
Berkshire Museum
Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences
Review of the Yukon Wildlife Park:
In a single sentence?
With the exception of the Elk (and maybe Muskox) the enclosures at the YWP are the largest of their kind for the species housed that I have ever seen. The Mountain Goat and Moose enclosures are remarkable.
In a multitude of paragraphs?
The YWP is just few minutes west of Whitehorse, the capital of the Yukon Territory. Whitehorse gives off the vibe of a rough and tumble market town...and reminded me a lot of Fairbanks Alaska. Think Dodge City, or Laramie, or Lahaina.
When you arrive a the YWP and park in the gravel lot, the first thing you'll notice is an enclosure for Elk. The collection of Elk consisted of a few cows and a single bull. Visitors are warned that the bull had just recently been placed in with the cows and that he was very possessive and eager to establish his dominance...and that he had bluffed charged the fence frequently of the last couple of days.
Adjacent to the Elk enclosure is the gift shop/entrance desk. Here you pay your fee and the attendant will tell you a bit about the park and some interesting points regarding the residents. Primarily that each animal is native to the Yukon (and for my benefit) and that many of them are also native to Alaska. She also ran down a few pointers for finding the animals in their vast enclosures and which of the animals had recently produced young.
Starting out from the entrance you are giving three options: Walk, Ride the Bus, or Rent a Bike. The walk is a hike. Inside the park you walk around a mountain...not walk around on a mountain...you literally circumnavigate a mountain and gain 500 feet elevation in the process. Several times a white pickup truck being driven by a young man would pass me by on the road. I assumed he was hurrying from task to task...I now believe he was actually checking to see if anyone had simply given up and lay down on the road to die. He observed me closely and gave a wave each time he drove by me.
As noted, the enclosures are huge. In turn along the route you pass the enclosures for Wood Bison, Mule Deer, Moose, and Thin-horn Sheep (a collection of representatives of the Dall, Stone, and Fannin morphs...I imagine that they are not separated by breed and the Fannin morph is the most common as the Stone and Dall Sheep interbreed). At the juncture of the sheep and Moose enclosure you turn right and proceed up the hill, walking alongside the sheep and Moose enclosures for a few hundred meters before coming to the Rocky Mountain Goat enclosure.
You'd have a hard time convincing someone view your photos of the goats resting or climbing along the cliffs that your photos were not of wild animals. On the opposite side of the road from the goats you can overlook the vast Caribou enclosure...so vast that not an animal of the herd was in sight.
I did stop to photograph two goats resting on a ledge several hundred feet across a wooded gorge from my viewing location. And then seeing that the path again descended the hill...considered turning back as my oxygen starved brain had forgotten that the path was a figure 8...so resistant was my subconscious to climbing that mountain twice.
Throughout the park are rest areas with sitting benches and outhouses (similar to the wonderful rest areas along the Yukon Highway System...Alaska and it turns out, British Columbia, are miles behind the Yukon in this respect)...and here we rest. Let me briefly describe the enclosures for you.
The Elk probably have the least exciting enclosure as it is just an open pasture next to the entrance. The Wood Bison have a larger circular pasture, large enough that if the bison were on the opposite side of the enclosure from your vantage point...binoculars would not be inappropriate. The east side of the bison enclosure abuts a long grove of trees which at certain times of the day would provide shade to that side of the enclosure. The Mule Deer enclosures (two of them) are a mixture of open meadow and forest grove. The Moose enclosure contains a small lake or extremely large pond with adjoining Spruce Bog and Marsh. The sheep also have a mix of meadow and open parkland forest...a large cliff face dominates the north of the enclosure and I would be surprised if the sheep did not have access to it. The Caribou occupy more of the boreal parkland on the saddle north of the sheep, in an enclosure of tall grassland and light woods. The goats have the entire cliff-face of a mountain above a thickly wooded gorge and on the far west side of the enclosure an open slope pasture with a strand of pines for cover. The Muskox have an open grassland enclosure (two of these as it appears a couple bachelors are kept from the main herd) with, like the bison, one side dominated by tall trees just beyond the fence creating a shaded spot were most of the herd was resting. The Canada Lynx is exhibited in an enclosure surrounding the wooded knob of a small hill...again the largest such enclosure I have ever seen this species housed in...and in truth, I did not spend much time trying to find the lynx. The Red Fox enclosure is across the road from the lynx and I observed a single fox resting among the brush atop a rocky hill. Arctic Ground Squirrels can be observed in each of the herbivore enclosures with the exception of the Moose. There was a single bird on display, which the administration clerk told me was projected to be released the finally Friday, but during my walk around the YWP I did not note the enclosure.
Each enclosure (but for the fox and lynx) is a wire square rig that can easily accommodate a cell phone or camera lens for obstruction free photography (similar to the AWCC back in Alaska) and unlike the current trend at the AWCC the barricades separating the visitor from the animals run along the inside of the fence allowing access to the fence for the zoo guests.
In fact the YWP and the AWCC are very similar with, mostly due to the separate geographies of each park (wooded, hillside pasture for the YWP and coastal brush and scrub for the AWCC, the main contrast between the two being that the AWCC has a more utilitarian look (which can be disguised with clever framing) than that of the YWP.
Collection wise, I was surprised that the YWP does not exhibit Brown or Black Bears, or Wolves. I also wondered while the AWCC (which sources Wood Bison from Canada) does not work with the YWP to acquire excess Thin-horn Sheep (Dall morph) or Mountain Goats to complete their collection of megafauna found in sub-arctic Alaska.
Overall the YWP was a very welcoming and pleasant experience and I'd highly recommend a visit if you are ever in Whitehorse.
Now...my own personnel zoo standard...probable ecological. If the YWP's residents were found on an island possessing the size and topography of Borneo out in the Gulf of Alaska would it work ecologically? The herbivores would each have adequate habitat and do just fine with the Thin-horn Sheep and Mountain Goats occupying the northern mountains and the Caribou and Muskox most common on the north sloping where I imagine the land cover would be similar to that of the Aleutian Islands or Kodiak being a mixture of brush and grassland. The Mule Deer and Moose and Bison would thrive in the myriad of open, closed, and wetland habitats south of the mountains on the wetter southern and eastern regions. With Arctic Ground Squirrels abundant on the northern third of the island and present in smaller numbers throughout the south (lacking competition from other rodents)...during the summer, when the squirrels are active, the lynx and the Red Fox might have a chance...but barring other prey species the Canada Lynx and the Red Fox would not abundant, if present at all. The lynx (larger specimens) might be able to take down the occasional caribou calf, or sheep and mule deer...but probably not successfully enough to sustain a populations...preying on the Red Fox would be an option...but the fox will have it's own difficulties sustaining an island wide population. But the Red Fox would be better equipped than the lynx. At least along the coastline the foxes couple hunt in the tidal zone and scavenge on creatures washed up on the beaches. In the summers, success with hunting the Ground Squirrels and feeding on berries and maybe fungi would sustain the animals. In the late winter, herbivores (overpopulated in cyclical boom / bust function) would leave carcasses that could be scavenged...but otherwise the foxes (at least those not on the coast) would subsist on cannibalism and starvation. If we include the default species of rodent and lagomorph (as well as documented birds) both the Lynx and the Red Fox would each survive, although the larger herbivores (once they have reached carrying capacity) would exist in a perpetual boom / bust cycle as disease, starvation, and winters periodically thinned the herds.
The Yukon Wildlife Park has a probable ecological score of 100. Pretty low for a zoo in general and very low for a "native species wildpark." Were it in a slightly more populated area, I would be surprised if the YWP continued to be bereft of wolves and bears.
In a single sentence?
With the exception of the Elk (and maybe Muskox) the enclosures at the YWP are the largest of their kind for the species housed that I have ever seen. The Mountain Goat and Moose enclosures are remarkable.
In a multitude of paragraphs?
The YWP is just few minutes west of Whitehorse, the capital of the Yukon Territory. Whitehorse gives off the vibe of a rough and tumble market town...and reminded me a lot of Fairbanks Alaska. Think Dodge City, or Laramie, or Lahaina.
When you arrive a the YWP and park in the gravel lot, the first thing you'll notice is an enclosure for Elk. The collection of Elk consisted of a few cows and a single bull. Visitors are warned that the bull had just recently been placed in with the cows and that he was very possessive and eager to establish his dominance...and that he had bluffed charged the fence frequently of the last couple of days.
Adjacent to the Elk enclosure is the gift shop/entrance desk. Here you pay your fee and the attendant will tell you a bit about the park and some interesting points regarding the residents. Primarily that each animal is native to the Yukon (and for my benefit) and that many of them are also native to Alaska. She also ran down a few pointers for finding the animals in their vast enclosures and which of the animals had recently produced young.
Starting out from the entrance you are giving three options: Walk, Ride the Bus, or Rent a Bike. The walk is a hike. Inside the park you walk around a mountain...not walk around on a mountain...you literally circumnavigate a mountain and gain 500 feet elevation in the process. Several times a white pickup truck being driven by a young man would pass me by on the road. I assumed he was hurrying from task to task...I now believe he was actually checking to see if anyone had simply given up and lay down on the road to die. He observed me closely and gave a wave each time he drove by me.
As noted, the enclosures are huge. In turn along the route you pass the enclosures for Wood Bison, Mule Deer, Moose, and Thin-horn Sheep (a collection of representatives of the Dall, Stone, and Fannin morphs...I imagine that they are not separated by breed and the Fannin morph is the most common as the Stone and Dall Sheep interbreed). At the juncture of the sheep and Moose enclosure you turn right and proceed up the hill, walking alongside the sheep and Moose enclosures for a few hundred meters before coming to the Rocky Mountain Goat enclosure.
You'd have a hard time convincing someone view your photos of the goats resting or climbing along the cliffs that your photos were not of wild animals. On the opposite side of the road from the goats you can overlook the vast Caribou enclosure...so vast that not an animal of the herd was in sight.
I did stop to photograph two goats resting on a ledge several hundred feet across a wooded gorge from my viewing location. And then seeing that the path again descended the hill...considered turning back as my oxygen starved brain had forgotten that the path was a figure 8...so resistant was my subconscious to climbing that mountain twice.
Throughout the park are rest areas with sitting benches and outhouses (similar to the wonderful rest areas along the Yukon Highway System...Alaska and it turns out, British Columbia, are miles behind the Yukon in this respect)...and here we rest. Let me briefly describe the enclosures for you.
The Elk probably have the least exciting enclosure as it is just an open pasture next to the entrance. The Wood Bison have a larger circular pasture, large enough that if the bison were on the opposite side of the enclosure from your vantage point...binoculars would not be inappropriate. The east side of the bison enclosure abuts a long grove of trees which at certain times of the day would provide shade to that side of the enclosure. The Mule Deer enclosures (two of them) are a mixture of open meadow and forest grove. The Moose enclosure contains a small lake or extremely large pond with adjoining Spruce Bog and Marsh. The sheep also have a mix of meadow and open parkland forest...a large cliff face dominates the north of the enclosure and I would be surprised if the sheep did not have access to it. The Caribou occupy more of the boreal parkland on the saddle north of the sheep, in an enclosure of tall grassland and light woods. The goats have the entire cliff-face of a mountain above a thickly wooded gorge and on the far west side of the enclosure an open slope pasture with a strand of pines for cover. The Muskox have an open grassland enclosure (two of these as it appears a couple bachelors are kept from the main herd) with, like the bison, one side dominated by tall trees just beyond the fence creating a shaded spot were most of the herd was resting. The Canada Lynx is exhibited in an enclosure surrounding the wooded knob of a small hill...again the largest such enclosure I have ever seen this species housed in...and in truth, I did not spend much time trying to find the lynx. The Red Fox enclosure is across the road from the lynx and I observed a single fox resting among the brush atop a rocky hill. Arctic Ground Squirrels can be observed in each of the herbivore enclosures with the exception of the Moose. There was a single bird on display, which the administration clerk told me was projected to be released the finally Friday, but during my walk around the YWP I did not note the enclosure.
Each enclosure (but for the fox and lynx) is a wire square rig that can easily accommodate a cell phone or camera lens for obstruction free photography (similar to the AWCC back in Alaska) and unlike the current trend at the AWCC the barricades separating the visitor from the animals run along the inside of the fence allowing access to the fence for the zoo guests.
In fact the YWP and the AWCC are very similar with, mostly due to the separate geographies of each park (wooded, hillside pasture for the YWP and coastal brush and scrub for the AWCC, the main contrast between the two being that the AWCC has a more utilitarian look (which can be disguised with clever framing) than that of the YWP.
Collection wise, I was surprised that the YWP does not exhibit Brown or Black Bears, or Wolves. I also wondered while the AWCC (which sources Wood Bison from Canada) does not work with the YWP to acquire excess Thin-horn Sheep (Dall morph) or Mountain Goats to complete their collection of megafauna found in sub-arctic Alaska.
Overall the YWP was a very welcoming and pleasant experience and I'd highly recommend a visit if you are ever in Whitehorse.
Now...my own personnel zoo standard...probable ecological. If the YWP's residents were found on an island possessing the size and topography of Borneo out in the Gulf of Alaska would it work ecologically? The herbivores would each have adequate habitat and do just fine with the Thin-horn Sheep and Mountain Goats occupying the northern mountains and the Caribou and Muskox most common on the north sloping where I imagine the land cover would be similar to that of the Aleutian Islands or Kodiak being a mixture of brush and grassland. The Mule Deer and Moose and Bison would thrive in the myriad of open, closed, and wetland habitats south of the mountains on the wetter southern and eastern regions. With Arctic Ground Squirrels abundant on the northern third of the island and present in smaller numbers throughout the south (lacking competition from other rodents)...during the summer, when the squirrels are active, the lynx and the Red Fox might have a chance...but barring other prey species the Canada Lynx and the Red Fox would not abundant, if present at all. The lynx (larger specimens) might be able to take down the occasional caribou calf, or sheep and mule deer...but probably not successfully enough to sustain a populations...preying on the Red Fox would be an option...but the fox will have it's own difficulties sustaining an island wide population. But the Red Fox would be better equipped than the lynx. At least along the coastline the foxes couple hunt in the tidal zone and scavenge on creatures washed up on the beaches. In the summers, success with hunting the Ground Squirrels and feeding on berries and maybe fungi would sustain the animals. In the late winter, herbivores (overpopulated in cyclical boom / bust function) would leave carcasses that could be scavenged...but otherwise the foxes (at least those not on the coast) would subsist on cannibalism and starvation. If we include the default species of rodent and lagomorph (as well as documented birds) both the Lynx and the Red Fox would each survive, although the larger herbivores (once they have reached carrying capacity) would exist in a perpetual boom / bust cycle as disease, starvation, and winters periodically thinned the herds.
The Yukon Wildlife Park has a probable ecological score of 100. Pretty low for a zoo in general and very low for a "native species wildpark." Were it in a slightly more populated area, I would be surprised if the YWP continued to be bereft of wolves and bears.
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Yep, I agree. The visit is mainly to close the circle on New England zoos visited between 2023 and 2024. With the exceptions of Capron Park, Blue Hills Trailside Museum, The Ecotarium, DEW Haven, New England Aquarium, Charmingfare Farm, Woods Hole Science Aquarium, The Aquarium at Norwalk, and the Livingstone Ripley Waterfowl Conservancy...I'll have visited them all and York's Wild Kingdom is the most convenient for me to see from my base in Connecticut as I travel north to Aroostook County Maine. I'm hoping I might be able to fit in Norwalk and Livingston Ripley during my few days in New England.