I visited the Alaska Zoo today with the intent of posting a review for ZooChat. I hope everyone enjoys it. Credit to Snow Leopard whose review style I'll try to mimic a bit.
The Alaska Zoo is not an AZA Accredited Facility. I'm not sure why, perhaps it has something to do with that independent Alaskan Spirit. The Alaska Zoo does house animals received from other AZA Zoos (Snow Leopards, Amur Tigers, Bactrian Camel) and Sea World Australia (Polar Bear). Rescued wildlife has also arrived at the Alaska Zoo and later been provided to AZA facilities in the lower 48 (Brown, Black, and Polar Bears). The vast majority of animals housed at the Zoo arrived after being found/rescued by Private Individuals, Alaska Fish and Game, Dept of Defense, or US Fish and Wildlife as injured or orphaned juvenile (most of the mammals) or adults (the birds). Several domesticated animals are also housed at the Alaska Zoo.
The Alaska Zoo is very active in Education and the Community. For example, during the summer months they have Friday Night Concerts and Wednesday Night Wildlife Presentations (frequently provided by biologists active in various wildlife studies and conservation programs) on the lawn near the Coffee Shop and Alpacas. Throughout the winter evening Wildlife Presentations are provided at the Zoo Education Center (again usually given by persons active in wildlife studies: this Weds a biologist will be discussing the population dynamics of the Dall Sheep population in the Chugach Range here in Anchorage!)
I encourage everyone to view the Alaska Zoo's outstanding website to learn a little bit more about the Zoo from the folks who work there. I emailed a few weeks ago to complement them on their website and asked the education director if they had considered using the old Elephant exhibit to display Pzewalski's Horses (maybe with a Berengia educational tie in), Wisent (to bring all three Bison Species to Alaska), or Highland Cattle (to tie in with other High Latitude/Altitude Domestics Present: Yaks, Reindeer, Bactrian Camels, Alpacas). I received a prompt and considerate response. I also asked when we could expect Wolverines to return to the Zoo and was told that they had a request in with the US F&W and ADF&G to receive a rescue Wolverine when one became available.
The Alaska Zoo sits on 25 acres of heavily wooded land on the lower Hillside in south Anchorage. The "Hillside" is what Anchoragites refer to the lower slopes of the Chugach Range east of the city. The woodlands make for a very pleasant four seasons walk along the Alaska Zoo's gravel paths. Bird life abounds (especially Ravens whose class echo through the Zoo) throughout the Alaska Zoo making for some interesting multi species exhibits when large carnivores are visited by Ravens, Magpies, or Mew Gulls.
Now for the review: I visited the Alaska Zoo on a sleety, overcast day, temp 37f, at about 1400hrs. I took several photos of exhibits, animals, and signs and will post them soon.
First up were the Zoo's two Polar Bears housed in a large, faux stone exhibit with an underwater viewing area. I have never seen either bear in the water. The female bear was orphaned when Native fisherman shot her mother in self defense in Arctic Alaska, she has resided at the Zoo ever since. The male bear was born in St Petersburg Zoo and spent his early adulthood at Sea World Australia before coming to the Alaska Zoo 2006.
Across from the Polar Bears are a couple of large fenced exhibits for Red Fox (all rescued for human/wildlife conflicts) and formally Wolverines. Just past the Polar Bears is the gravesite for Annabelle the Asian Elephant who was the Alaska Zoo's founder animal. The Zoo got it's start when a local grocer won $3,000 or a baby Elephant in a radio contest. He picked the Elephant.
Further along the path you have a very large fenced exhibit housing a bull Moose. This is a characteristic of the Alaska Zoo. Large exhibits, very poor photographic opportunities due to iron/chain link fencing. Past the Moose we have the Canada Lynx in a well wooded, activity filled exhibit behind poor fencing. As we continue along the paths we pass a large picnic area and a few old aviaries housing rescued Golden Eagle, Snowy Owl, Great Grey Owl, Magpie, And Ravens. In the same area we have a spacious exhibit housing two domestic Turkeys and a Sitka Black-Tailed Deer (rescued orphan). We continue down the path past two paddocks holding two Musk Ox.
We arrive at a crossroads and turn left. Three small wood wire cages house a North-Western Crow (off exhibit for the Winter)' a Boreal Owl, and a Red Squirrel. To our right we have a small open exhibit housing North American Porcupines. We are also-on the north side of the Moose exhibit and the Moose is feeding at one of the stations near the fence. To our left we have a herd of five Tibetan Yaks (born at the Zoo or from a farm near Delta Junction Alaska). Past the Yaks we have the Coffee Shop, Greenhouse, and great lawn on the right and the Alpacas (farm raised in Alaska) and Bactrian Camel (Minnesota Zoo) exhibits on the left. A seasonal honeybee exhibit is near the Camel.
Today the Greenhouse is hosting local children creating Valentines to give to the Animals. A large envelope next to each exhibit waits for the kids to Valentine their favorite animals.
Past the Camel, we have a large exhibit for a small herd of Caribou (again behind Chainlink Fencing). We continue down the path and bear left along an elevated walkway between the heavily wooded Blak Bear exhibit on the left and the Zoo's newest exhibit, a beautiful netted aivery for the Zoo's oldest resident, a rescued Bald Eagle living at the zoo since 1973. A second Eagle, much younger, shares the exhibit. The Black Bears were not out, but tracks in the snow, showed they have been up and about this winter.
At the end of the walkway we can see the Yaks from another angle and we turn right headed down the hill, past the Amur Tiger exhibit and the currently unoccupied Coyote exhibit. We walk across a boardwalk crossing over a wooded stream and have a nice unobstructed view into the Caribou yard. Near the end of the walkway we are in front of the Snow Leopard exhibit, housing two Snow Leopards divided by netting. The Cats share a large faux rock mountain with crevices and ledges, no vegetation however. The Cats are viewed through glass up close or through netting if they are high enough and we stepped back from the exhibit. To our right is an elevated walkway overlooking a large hilly vegetated exhibit housing three brown bears (two mainland Alaskan bear and one Kodiak). The bears are active all winter, but have gone inside at this point. Their tracks litter the snow and evidence of their digging can be seen on the hill.
The male Snow Leopard is at the top of his exhibit looking in the direction of the Dall Sheep. Four Dall Sheep, three born at the Zoo, and a lamb rescued this spring (found abandoned on a trail near the Seward Highway) share a rocky wooded hill, behind Chainlink fencing. The hill is divided by a second fence and on the far side we have a Rocky Mountain Goat found as a kid on a beach near Juneau Alaska. From a point near the old Elephant house we have a nice view of the Goat and the wild Raven and Red Squirrel that frequent her exhibit.
The Elephant house housed Annebelle and then Maggie (a South African Elephant) until 2007. Maggie arrived as a calf (saved from a culled herd) and was a companion of Annebelle until Annebelle's death. Maggie lived alone after that and attracted a great deal of controversy about her health and northern latitude Elephant exhibiting. In 2007 after much debate Maggie was transferred to an Elephant Sanctuary in California aboard a USAF C-17. In addition to viewing Maggie many times between 2005-07, I have three other minor connections with her. The first time I took my step-daughter to the Zoo I spotted her pocketing a Peanut at her Mom's house that morning. I didn't say anything until just before we entered the Elephant house, when I asked Her if she still had the Peanut, she surrended it too me and we entered. As we observed Maggie, my step-daughter stood near the bars and from her pen Maggie extended her trunk towards the children, she was about two feet too far away, but I got the dirtiest look I've ever received from a five year old that day. My future mother in law was good friends with the engineer who designed Maggie's treadmill ($2,000,000) in a vain attempt to allow Maggie to exercise during the winter. The treadmill failure was the last straw and the following Summer a Police Convoy escorted Maggie through Anchorage to the US Air Base north of town, where I was the on-duty Military Police Supervisor and had the honor of escorting her out to the C-17 that would fly her to San Francisco in route to PAWS where she lives today. To hear an African Elephant trumpet, while sitting on an Alaskan Air Base, as she was loaded onto a military cargo aircraft was pretty unique as far as zoo experiences go.
Past the Elephant house, we have a large pond, created by damning the creek that is home to a pair of rescued Trumpeter Swans and a flock of over wintering wild Mallards. Open water is usually present all winter. The Swans are a breeding pair and their chicks are typically released into wild flocks every year. I believe this year's brood went to Oregon.
We cross the creek and head back up the hill past the Sandhills Crane exhibit (off exhibit) and back up past the Eagles and Tigers. At the top of the hill, we walk up onto the overlook to the Amur Tiger exhibit. The two male Tigers arrived at the Alaska Zoo in 2008 from the Zoo in Syracuse New York. They replaced two elderly brothers who passed in 2007 after living out their lives at the Zoo. They were born to a wild mother in the early 90's. The tiger exhibit is one of the best I have ever seen, except for an wire fence obstructing a ground view from the path and the concrete den entrance facing out from the hill. The exhibit is roomy and well treed. Ravens frequently roost on the trees in the exhibit.
To our left opposite the Tigers we have the north end of a large exhibit housing six Alaskan Grey Wolves (three gray, three black, all siblings). Past the wolves we can see horses stabled at an adjacent property. The Alaska Zoo sits between two horse stable properties on O'Malley Road.
We leave the Tiger Overlook, the Wolves can be seen through the trees on the far south side of the exhibit, interacting with several children trying to raise a howl from the pack. Occasionally this works and the Zoo empties as visitors head to the Wolf exhibit to witness this pretty amazing sight. We walk past Great Horned Olws housed in a large cage formally home to the Bald Eagles and come to the Wolves. Five of the wolves are resting near the fence fronting their exhibit, while the sixth has headed down the hill towards the Tigers and is laying in one of the large holes the Wolves like to dig. The Alaska Zoo's Wolves were removed from the wild near McGrath in south-western Alaska as part of Alaska's Predetor Control Program. The signage makes it very clear that Wolves are not and never have been endangered in Alaska and that they continue to occupy their entire range, excepting the centers of Alaska's larger cities and towns.
We head through the woods past the enclosures for the nurseries. A pair of rescued Red Foxes are there today. Past residents have included Moose calves, Mountain Goat Kids, Dall Sheep Lambs, Black Bear, Brown Bear, and Polar Bear Cubs. Most of these rescued animals move on to other zoos. Some become residents at the Alaska Zoo, rarely they may be released into the wild.
We move past the Nusury/Infirmary and pass a large fenced exhibit housing Arctic Foxes, another housing a Red Fox, a cage housing a Red Tailed Hawk, another housing a Goshawk and then an empty petting yard. A lone Pygmy Goat occupies the yard. The Chickens, Rabbits, and Geese are off exhibit. An adjacent yard house two Donkey's and a Jacob Sheep. I wish the Zoo would highlight Berengia and the Asses and Horses that once lived in Alaska. Or go heavy with a Northern Breed Domestics theme...but alas.
We pass through the Zoo's old entrance plaza, past the discovery center (closed today) and back through the woods past an nice enclosure for a rescued Northern Hawk Owl, past the Red Foxes and at the end we front the Polar Bears. To our right is the exit, gift shop and an aquatic exhibit housing (seperately) two Pacific Harbor Seals and three River Otters. Both exhibits afford overhead through glass and underwater viewing of the Seals and Otters. The Pacific Harbor Seals are mother and son. The female arrived after being orphaned in western Alaska, in 2005-06 she was housed at the Alaska SeaLife Center in Seward while her exhibit at the Alaska Zoo was renovated, while at the SeaLife Center she was impregnated (unintentionally according to Staff) by a male Harbor Seal there, and returned to the Alaska Zoo with her Son in late 2007.
The River Otters are all human/Wildife conflict rescues and are very active and energetic. The exhibits are mediocre for each species, but the animals are active and Zoo favorites. Stand near the underwater viewing port and hold up a camera and one of the otters will swim up and give it's all for you.
We leave the Zoo and pass the well stocked and (classy, really) gift shop and huge Education and Administration Bldg. Catch an unobstructed overhead view of the Seals and dodge a couple of popcorn addicted wild Red Squirrels.
I hope you enjoyed the review. Please visit the Alaska Zoo's Website and I look forward to your comments. Photos to come.
The Best:
Amur Tiger and Bald Eagle Exhibits
The Good:
Almost every exhibit (mammals) is naturalistic and fairly large. Usually the animals are paws and hooves on real earth, amongst natural vegetation.
The Worse:
Several of the remnant bird cages
Several Exhibits are poor for Photograpy due to fencing.
The Alaska Zoo is not an AZA Accredited Facility. I'm not sure why, perhaps it has something to do with that independent Alaskan Spirit. The Alaska Zoo does house animals received from other AZA Zoos (Snow Leopards, Amur Tigers, Bactrian Camel) and Sea World Australia (Polar Bear). Rescued wildlife has also arrived at the Alaska Zoo and later been provided to AZA facilities in the lower 48 (Brown, Black, and Polar Bears). The vast majority of animals housed at the Zoo arrived after being found/rescued by Private Individuals, Alaska Fish and Game, Dept of Defense, or US Fish and Wildlife as injured or orphaned juvenile (most of the mammals) or adults (the birds). Several domesticated animals are also housed at the Alaska Zoo.
The Alaska Zoo is very active in Education and the Community. For example, during the summer months they have Friday Night Concerts and Wednesday Night Wildlife Presentations (frequently provided by biologists active in various wildlife studies and conservation programs) on the lawn near the Coffee Shop and Alpacas. Throughout the winter evening Wildlife Presentations are provided at the Zoo Education Center (again usually given by persons active in wildlife studies: this Weds a biologist will be discussing the population dynamics of the Dall Sheep population in the Chugach Range here in Anchorage!)
I encourage everyone to view the Alaska Zoo's outstanding website to learn a little bit more about the Zoo from the folks who work there. I emailed a few weeks ago to complement them on their website and asked the education director if they had considered using the old Elephant exhibit to display Pzewalski's Horses (maybe with a Berengia educational tie in), Wisent (to bring all three Bison Species to Alaska), or Highland Cattle (to tie in with other High Latitude/Altitude Domestics Present: Yaks, Reindeer, Bactrian Camels, Alpacas). I received a prompt and considerate response. I also asked when we could expect Wolverines to return to the Zoo and was told that they had a request in with the US F&W and ADF&G to receive a rescue Wolverine when one became available.
The Alaska Zoo sits on 25 acres of heavily wooded land on the lower Hillside in south Anchorage. The "Hillside" is what Anchoragites refer to the lower slopes of the Chugach Range east of the city. The woodlands make for a very pleasant four seasons walk along the Alaska Zoo's gravel paths. Bird life abounds (especially Ravens whose class echo through the Zoo) throughout the Alaska Zoo making for some interesting multi species exhibits when large carnivores are visited by Ravens, Magpies, or Mew Gulls.
Now for the review: I visited the Alaska Zoo on a sleety, overcast day, temp 37f, at about 1400hrs. I took several photos of exhibits, animals, and signs and will post them soon.
First up were the Zoo's two Polar Bears housed in a large, faux stone exhibit with an underwater viewing area. I have never seen either bear in the water. The female bear was orphaned when Native fisherman shot her mother in self defense in Arctic Alaska, she has resided at the Zoo ever since. The male bear was born in St Petersburg Zoo and spent his early adulthood at Sea World Australia before coming to the Alaska Zoo 2006.
Across from the Polar Bears are a couple of large fenced exhibits for Red Fox (all rescued for human/wildlife conflicts) and formally Wolverines. Just past the Polar Bears is the gravesite for Annabelle the Asian Elephant who was the Alaska Zoo's founder animal. The Zoo got it's start when a local grocer won $3,000 or a baby Elephant in a radio contest. He picked the Elephant.
Further along the path you have a very large fenced exhibit housing a bull Moose. This is a characteristic of the Alaska Zoo. Large exhibits, very poor photographic opportunities due to iron/chain link fencing. Past the Moose we have the Canada Lynx in a well wooded, activity filled exhibit behind poor fencing. As we continue along the paths we pass a large picnic area and a few old aviaries housing rescued Golden Eagle, Snowy Owl, Great Grey Owl, Magpie, And Ravens. In the same area we have a spacious exhibit housing two domestic Turkeys and a Sitka Black-Tailed Deer (rescued orphan). We continue down the path past two paddocks holding two Musk Ox.
We arrive at a crossroads and turn left. Three small wood wire cages house a North-Western Crow (off exhibit for the Winter)' a Boreal Owl, and a Red Squirrel. To our right we have a small open exhibit housing North American Porcupines. We are also-on the north side of the Moose exhibit and the Moose is feeding at one of the stations near the fence. To our left we have a herd of five Tibetan Yaks (born at the Zoo or from a farm near Delta Junction Alaska). Past the Yaks we have the Coffee Shop, Greenhouse, and great lawn on the right and the Alpacas (farm raised in Alaska) and Bactrian Camel (Minnesota Zoo) exhibits on the left. A seasonal honeybee exhibit is near the Camel.
Today the Greenhouse is hosting local children creating Valentines to give to the Animals. A large envelope next to each exhibit waits for the kids to Valentine their favorite animals.
Past the Camel, we have a large exhibit for a small herd of Caribou (again behind Chainlink Fencing). We continue down the path and bear left along an elevated walkway between the heavily wooded Blak Bear exhibit on the left and the Zoo's newest exhibit, a beautiful netted aivery for the Zoo's oldest resident, a rescued Bald Eagle living at the zoo since 1973. A second Eagle, much younger, shares the exhibit. The Black Bears were not out, but tracks in the snow, showed they have been up and about this winter.
At the end of the walkway we can see the Yaks from another angle and we turn right headed down the hill, past the Amur Tiger exhibit and the currently unoccupied Coyote exhibit. We walk across a boardwalk crossing over a wooded stream and have a nice unobstructed view into the Caribou yard. Near the end of the walkway we are in front of the Snow Leopard exhibit, housing two Snow Leopards divided by netting. The Cats share a large faux rock mountain with crevices and ledges, no vegetation however. The Cats are viewed through glass up close or through netting if they are high enough and we stepped back from the exhibit. To our right is an elevated walkway overlooking a large hilly vegetated exhibit housing three brown bears (two mainland Alaskan bear and one Kodiak). The bears are active all winter, but have gone inside at this point. Their tracks litter the snow and evidence of their digging can be seen on the hill.
The male Snow Leopard is at the top of his exhibit looking in the direction of the Dall Sheep. Four Dall Sheep, three born at the Zoo, and a lamb rescued this spring (found abandoned on a trail near the Seward Highway) share a rocky wooded hill, behind Chainlink fencing. The hill is divided by a second fence and on the far side we have a Rocky Mountain Goat found as a kid on a beach near Juneau Alaska. From a point near the old Elephant house we have a nice view of the Goat and the wild Raven and Red Squirrel that frequent her exhibit.
The Elephant house housed Annebelle and then Maggie (a South African Elephant) until 2007. Maggie arrived as a calf (saved from a culled herd) and was a companion of Annebelle until Annebelle's death. Maggie lived alone after that and attracted a great deal of controversy about her health and northern latitude Elephant exhibiting. In 2007 after much debate Maggie was transferred to an Elephant Sanctuary in California aboard a USAF C-17. In addition to viewing Maggie many times between 2005-07, I have three other minor connections with her. The first time I took my step-daughter to the Zoo I spotted her pocketing a Peanut at her Mom's house that morning. I didn't say anything until just before we entered the Elephant house, when I asked Her if she still had the Peanut, she surrended it too me and we entered. As we observed Maggie, my step-daughter stood near the bars and from her pen Maggie extended her trunk towards the children, she was about two feet too far away, but I got the dirtiest look I've ever received from a five year old that day. My future mother in law was good friends with the engineer who designed Maggie's treadmill ($2,000,000) in a vain attempt to allow Maggie to exercise during the winter. The treadmill failure was the last straw and the following Summer a Police Convoy escorted Maggie through Anchorage to the US Air Base north of town, where I was the on-duty Military Police Supervisor and had the honor of escorting her out to the C-17 that would fly her to San Francisco in route to PAWS where she lives today. To hear an African Elephant trumpet, while sitting on an Alaskan Air Base, as she was loaded onto a military cargo aircraft was pretty unique as far as zoo experiences go.
Past the Elephant house, we have a large pond, created by damning the creek that is home to a pair of rescued Trumpeter Swans and a flock of over wintering wild Mallards. Open water is usually present all winter. The Swans are a breeding pair and their chicks are typically released into wild flocks every year. I believe this year's brood went to Oregon.
We cross the creek and head back up the hill past the Sandhills Crane exhibit (off exhibit) and back up past the Eagles and Tigers. At the top of the hill, we walk up onto the overlook to the Amur Tiger exhibit. The two male Tigers arrived at the Alaska Zoo in 2008 from the Zoo in Syracuse New York. They replaced two elderly brothers who passed in 2007 after living out their lives at the Zoo. They were born to a wild mother in the early 90's. The tiger exhibit is one of the best I have ever seen, except for an wire fence obstructing a ground view from the path and the concrete den entrance facing out from the hill. The exhibit is roomy and well treed. Ravens frequently roost on the trees in the exhibit.
To our left opposite the Tigers we have the north end of a large exhibit housing six Alaskan Grey Wolves (three gray, three black, all siblings). Past the wolves we can see horses stabled at an adjacent property. The Alaska Zoo sits between two horse stable properties on O'Malley Road.
We leave the Tiger Overlook, the Wolves can be seen through the trees on the far south side of the exhibit, interacting with several children trying to raise a howl from the pack. Occasionally this works and the Zoo empties as visitors head to the Wolf exhibit to witness this pretty amazing sight. We walk past Great Horned Olws housed in a large cage formally home to the Bald Eagles and come to the Wolves. Five of the wolves are resting near the fence fronting their exhibit, while the sixth has headed down the hill towards the Tigers and is laying in one of the large holes the Wolves like to dig. The Alaska Zoo's Wolves were removed from the wild near McGrath in south-western Alaska as part of Alaska's Predetor Control Program. The signage makes it very clear that Wolves are not and never have been endangered in Alaska and that they continue to occupy their entire range, excepting the centers of Alaska's larger cities and towns.
We head through the woods past the enclosures for the nurseries. A pair of rescued Red Foxes are there today. Past residents have included Moose calves, Mountain Goat Kids, Dall Sheep Lambs, Black Bear, Brown Bear, and Polar Bear Cubs. Most of these rescued animals move on to other zoos. Some become residents at the Alaska Zoo, rarely they may be released into the wild.
We move past the Nusury/Infirmary and pass a large fenced exhibit housing Arctic Foxes, another housing a Red Fox, a cage housing a Red Tailed Hawk, another housing a Goshawk and then an empty petting yard. A lone Pygmy Goat occupies the yard. The Chickens, Rabbits, and Geese are off exhibit. An adjacent yard house two Donkey's and a Jacob Sheep. I wish the Zoo would highlight Berengia and the Asses and Horses that once lived in Alaska. Or go heavy with a Northern Breed Domestics theme...but alas.
We pass through the Zoo's old entrance plaza, past the discovery center (closed today) and back through the woods past an nice enclosure for a rescued Northern Hawk Owl, past the Red Foxes and at the end we front the Polar Bears. To our right is the exit, gift shop and an aquatic exhibit housing (seperately) two Pacific Harbor Seals and three River Otters. Both exhibits afford overhead through glass and underwater viewing of the Seals and Otters. The Pacific Harbor Seals are mother and son. The female arrived after being orphaned in western Alaska, in 2005-06 she was housed at the Alaska SeaLife Center in Seward while her exhibit at the Alaska Zoo was renovated, while at the SeaLife Center she was impregnated (unintentionally according to Staff) by a male Harbor Seal there, and returned to the Alaska Zoo with her Son in late 2007.
The River Otters are all human/Wildife conflict rescues and are very active and energetic. The exhibits are mediocre for each species, but the animals are active and Zoo favorites. Stand near the underwater viewing port and hold up a camera and one of the otters will swim up and give it's all for you.
We leave the Zoo and pass the well stocked and (classy, really) gift shop and huge Education and Administration Bldg. Catch an unobstructed overhead view of the Seals and dodge a couple of popcorn addicted wild Red Squirrels.
I hope you enjoyed the review. Please visit the Alaska Zoo's Website and I look forward to your comments. Photos to come.
The Best:
Amur Tiger and Bald Eagle Exhibits
The Good:
Almost every exhibit (mammals) is naturalistic and fairly large. Usually the animals are paws and hooves on real earth, amongst natural vegetation.
The Worse:
Several of the remnant bird cages
Several Exhibits are poor for Photograpy due to fencing.
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