Bears, Moose, & more at the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center

After we left Girdwood, we stopped at the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center as we made our way into the Kenai Peninsula.

Mixed Feelings

Initially, we were going to wait in the parking lot at the center. It seemed a little zoo-like for us. Especially the hoopla around the animal feedings. But you had to pay to even get to the parking lot, so we ended up going in.

It wasn’t too bad. Most animals are only there because they can’t be released back into the wild. You will see the animals’ stories next to their enclosures.

And they also are working to reintroduce wood bison to Alaska. They’ve already released a herd that’s doing well.

wood bison at alaska wildlife conservation center.

A Fed Bear is a Dead Bear

We saw bears at the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center that would have been killed if they hadn’t been brought there. Remember, if you feed bears and they start coming close to people looking for food, they will likely be killed.

This happened at Centennial Campground before we got there. They had to kill a mama and her cubs. There aren’t enough wildlife centers to take them all in.

bear at alaska wildlife conservation center.

bear in tree at alaska wildlife conservation center.

bear at alaska wildlife conservation center.

The center had just recently received a baby moose when we toured. A vehicle hit and killed his mom.

baby moose at alaska wildlife conservation center.

This porcupine only had three legs.

porcupine at alaska wildlife conservation center.

Many of the other animals had similar stories.

caribou at alaska wildlife conservation center.

close up of caribou at alaska wildlife conservation center.

resting elk at alaska wildlife conservation center.

a group of bull elk at alaska wildlife conservation center.

an elk at alaska wildlife conservation center.

Someone kept one of these foxes as an illegal pet which is how he ended up at the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center. Fun fact: they’re both red foxes. But not all red foxes are necessarily red. Kind of like how some black bears are brown.

red fox at alaska wildlife conservation center.

another red fox at alaska wildlife conservation center.

The moose in the barn at the center is probably the closest we’ll ever get to one of these majestic creatures. We’d still much prefer to see them in the wild at a distance though.

moose at alaska wildlife conservation center.

moose at alaska wildlife conservation center.

The wolves were sacked out during our entire visit.

wolf at alaska wildlife conservation center.

And we loved seeing musk ox again. I’m not sure if the center was harvesting qiviut from these guys. They had a severe case of dingleberry dreads, for sure.

musk ox at alaska wildlife conservation center.

sleeping musk ox at alaska wildlife conservation center.

If you’d like to experience Alaska’s wildlife, we think the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center is a much better option than a zoo. What do you think?

Next post: Taking the RV through the Whittier Tunnel

Check out all the videos in our Alaska 2018 adventure here.

Laura Nunemaker

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Laura Nunemaker

vegan. full-time traveler. rv dweller. food lover. cow petter.

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