Call of the Wild

Yesterday was the 20th Anniversary of the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center and to celebrate, they opened their gates to the public.... for FREE!  Having never been there (but always wanting to go),  I took advantage of the offer and headed down to see if it was worth the wait.

The first enclosure we encountered housed the musk ox.  I was excited to see the babies that were born in April but they were actually in a different enclosure.

Two black bears had recently been transferred to their new enclosure.  While one was quite visibly on edge pacing back and forth, her sister wasn't as easily annoyed and was napping instead.

I was also intrigued by the caribou and their not-so-massive-yet antlers.  I couldn't imagine carrying those things around on my head! 

 

But the best part of the day happened while we were gazing adoringly at the 'bou.  One of them, with it's head in an odd angle, was snoring.  Don't believe me? Watch this:

                                  

 

All in all, it was a fun experience (and free) and it was interesting to read the stories of how the animals came to be at the center (most were injured and are unable to return back to the wild).  These were just a few of the animals.  We also saw wood bison, lynx, the top of the head of a grizzly, an eagle, owl, and some deer. Much better seeing them there than in the wild! (with the exception of the birds.. and deer.. and maybe the musk ox). 

The not-so-majestic looking elk.

 

One of the baby musk ox.  He was size of a small pot-bellied pig.