Behind the Scenes at the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center

Hi Blog!

We're on the road again. This time, we are sans rig. On Tuesday, June 21, 2016, we started our epic road trip with Eileen and Tom from Anchorage to Seward. In order to get from here to there, we had to drive around the Turnagain Arm.

Turnagain Arm was named by William Bligh of HMS Bounty fame. Bligh served as Captain James Cook's Sailing Master on his 3rd and final voyage trying to discover the Northwest Passage. Upon reaching the head of the inlet, Bligh was of the opinion that both Knik Arm and Turnagain Arm were the mouths of rivers and not the opening to the Northwest Passage. Under Cook's orders Bligh organized a party to travel up Knik Arm.  Bligh quickly returned to report Knik Arm indeed led only to a river. Afterwards, a second party was dispatched up Turnagain Arm and it too returned to report only a river lay ahead. As a result of this frustration, the second body of water was given the disingenuous name "Turn Again."

We made a number of stops along the way to take in the amazing scenery.

Our first stop was the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center. An important part of the Center’s mission is education. They are also committed to conservation of Alaska’s Wildlife, and are involved in several programs that further this commitment including reintroducing Wood Bison back to the Alaskan forests. They also take in orphaned and injured animals when they cannot fend for themselves. Rather than just walk around and read the displays, we signed up for a behind the scenes tour. Thanks to our Tour Saver Book, we had a buy-one-get-one-free coupon.

While the animals are kept on huge outdoor swaths of land, our first stop was the Visitor Center building:

Our tour began with some behind the scene enclosures where they bring in new animals. The new arrivals are tested and a determination is made if they can be released back to the wild. If not, plans are made for their new enclosures. Since these animals have not been conditioned to having lots of people around, and because the Center has not publicized the animal's presence at the Center, our guide asked that we not take photos. Photos or not, is was still cool to see a wolverine and baby coyote up close.

As we returned to the main area, we could take photos again. Here is their resident wolf. Deshka arrived at AWCC as an eight-week-old pup from a captive wildlife facility in Montana. She joins AWCC’s collection as the beginning of a wolf pack.

The initial herd of caribou at AWCC were rescued from Alaskan islands which were becoming overpopulated and could not sustain healthy animals. To prevent starvation, some caribou were removed and brought to AWCC. Below, Tom is doing his part to keep the caribou well fed.

Snickers the porcupine is a favorite at AWCC! He is a gregarious little fellow, having been raised in a home and relocated to the AWCC. Snickers is excellent for school presentations, where he will come out of his carrier for the afternoon to entertain and teach the kids personally. Snickers became a star when a Youtube video of him went worldwide and received over 3,000,000 views!

Kathy was able to give Snickers his morning snack. We never knew you could pet a porcupine!

In 2003, 13 wood bison were brought to AWCC from the Yukon Territory in Canada.  In 2015, an initial herd was successfully released back to the wild, and the goal is to release even more in the future. Currently, AWCC is home to the only wood bison herd in the United States.

Muskox are members of the goat family. They’re an arctic survivor from the time of the Ice Age, with a thick coat consisting of long (up to 36 inches) guard hairs covering a dense winter coat of harvestable warm fur called qiviut. Qiviut is considered to be one of the warmest materials in the world. It is also one of the most expensive. A cap woven from quiviut can cost up to $200 and a blanket about $2,000!

Little Jack is the youngest member of the moose family at AWCC. He was found stuck in a fence and abandoned by his mother. Since he is too young to learn how to live in the wild, he will become a permanent resident.

Adonis, the bald eagle, arrived at the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center in 1995. He was found near a remote village in Alaska and had been shot. His left wing required a full amputation as a result. Even though it is illegal to harm an eagle under the Bald Eagle Protection Act, an estimated 2,000 to 3,000 eagles are shot or injured in the United States each year. Since Adonis cannot fly, he has found a permanent home here at AWCC. He is also a movie star! Adonis starred in the movie, "Into the Wild," which we discussed in our prior blog entry about Denali National Park. He was the bald eagle eating salmon. Talk about typecasting!

In the town of Willow, a brown bear sow killed a moose calf in a resident’s backyard. The man was afraid that the bear might try to attack his family, so he killed the sow not knowing that she had two cubs, a male and a female (now known as Joe Boxer and Patron). In Alaska, killing a bear in defense of life or property is legal. Once he saw the two cubs at the top of a very tall and skinny birch tree, he called the area wildlife biologist to notify him of the situation. The cubs were rescued and raised at AWCC. Here Joe Boxer ambles by the viewing area.

The deer are the friendliest animals at AWCC and were all orphaned as young fawns. These curious yearlings are a favorite of the Wildlife Center because of their playful, cute nature. Below, Dave gets a chance to feed them pieces of apple.

As we finished our tour, we stopped back to see Jack get his noon-time feeding.

Feeling hungry ourselves, we stopped in the snack bar for a couple of salmon burgers before driving on to Whittier and Portage Glacier.

Here is a link to our Flickr album with all our photos from the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center.

We really enjoyed our behind the scene tour of the wildlife center. It is important to learn as much as we can and continue the conservation efforts so there will be some wildlife left for our grandchildren to discover.