Alaska Adventure 2021: Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center
This is the fourth part in a series of articles in which the author returns to Alaska to adventure with his family. Check back here every week to follow Joe Byers and his family on their 2021 Alaska adventure. Check out last week’s entry HERE.
By: Joe Byers
Alaska and animals are nearly synonymous. Visitors and tourists enjoy seeing a moose or a black bear as much as a glacier or majestic mountain. Luckily, the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center (AWCC) provides the opportunity to see many of Alaska’s iconic animals in a single location. Located just an hour’s drive south of Anchorage, it is the perfect first stop to give youngsters or animal lovers a chance to see amazing creatures in a natural environment. It is so close to Anchorage that those with a long connection can visit this amazing facility and still make their connection.
The AWCC differs from a zoo in that these animals have been “rescued” in one form or another. Perhaps their mother was killed on the highway, or a zoo needed a more appropriate habitat. Many of the animals have names with their story posted for visitors to see.
The brown bear viewing area is among the best in the world. The giant bruins have so much dense cover to roam that you may have to wait a while to see one. I was lucky enough to catch two bears fighting in a small pond on one of my visits, and I took some amazing photographs. I am not sure if these bears were establishing dominance or just settling a score, but their actions were loud and clear.
Two brown bears fighting at the AWCC.
Two species roaming the AWCC are exceedingly difficult to see in the wild, Muskoxen and Wood Bison. Muskoxen live above the Arctic circle in the most northern regions of Alaska. Here you can see a small herd, including some mature males. Notice the “danger” signs. One ranger told me they are more aggressive than brown bears and must be managed with great caution.
The second species is Wood Bison, the largest of American bison. Once they roamed in large herds in Canada and Alaska, but today their numbers are greatly reduced. Safari Club International and the Conservation Center have teamed up to transplant some of the animals into the wild, which allows their numbers to grow naturally.
Moose, caribou, and Sitka blacktail deer each have separate areas. It’s remarkable to see them growing antlers that will become solid bone in September only to fall off in winter, part of one of nature’s most amazing adaptations. Even in mid-June, bull elk had their antlers nearly half grown. April through August, the elk will add nearly 20 pounds of bone to their antlers, which they will use to establish breeding rights and protect themselves from predators.
In mid June most mammals are still shedding their winter coats. Not the antler growth.
Speaking of predators, you will see them as well. Four wolves are held in one enclosure and are shy except at feeding time. If you are lucky, a nearby train will pass by and blow its whistle, a sound that often prompts the wolves to burst into a full howl. Foxes and coyotes also have homes at the AWCC, and we witnessed one of the staff feeding them.
One of four wolves at the AWCC.
Depending upon the timing of the visit, you will witness animals in various stages of summer accommodation. In mid-June, most of the larger mammals appear to be shaggy and unkept. As summer temperatures rise and sunlight reaches 20 hours or more, they begin to shed their winter coats a little bit at a time, creating the shaggy look that you see. By August, all that old hair will have shed, and mammals will begin to grow their winter hair in preparation for the brutal winter that Alaska dishes out.
The Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center is a camera lover’s delight. Although a cell phone camera will capture the smaller animals, a full-blown SLR with a 200+ lens is ideal for capturing great images in natural surroundings. In today’s digital world, you will not have to worry about running out of film and those images will create a lifetime of memories.
For complete details on The Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center, check out their location on the web at www.alaskawildlife.org
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