Audio Guide

Introduction

AWCC is a non-prof­it orga­ni­za­tion ded­i­cat­ed to pre­serv­ing Alaska’s wildlife through con­ser­va­tion, pub­lic edu­ca­tion, and qual­i­ty ani­mal care.

Rules at the Center

Now it’s time to go over some basics. For­tu­nate­ly, we do have rules to abide by… but hear me out!

Reindeer

Before we get start­ed, cari­bou and rein­deer are the same species. In Alas­ka we refer to domes­ti­cat­ed indi­vid­u­als in this group as rein­deer while a com­mon name used for their wild coun­ter­part is caribou.

Caribou

An inter­est­ing fact about cari­bou: they out pop­u­late peo­ple in the state of Alas­ka 1.5 to 1.

Porcupine

Por­cu­pines are strict veg­e­tar­i­ans, some­times liv­ing off just a sin­gle tree for a win­ter. Giv­en the oppor­tu­ni­ty, they will like a vari­ety of fruits and vegetables.

Moose

Moose are the largest mem­ber of the deer fam­i­ly, and the Alaskan Yukon Moose is the largest of the moose fam­i­ly. At birth, calves typ­i­cal­ly weigh approx­i­mate­ly 25 pounds.

Musk Ox

Musk oxen are close­ly relat­ed to sheep and goats, and there­fore estab­lish dom­i­nance in much the same way.

Dangerous Animal Awareness: Moose and Bear Country

In Alas­ka it’s not just bears you need to wor­ry about. Aside from the weath­er and real­i­ties of how unfor­giv­ing the cli­mate can be (did you bring rain gear?), we live among bears and oth­er large ani­mals like moose.

Black Bear

Black Bears are one of the more adapt­able ani­mals in the entire ani­mal king­dom, as they are cur­rent­ly found in every sin­gle Unit­ed States’ state, with the excep­tion of Hawaii.

Brown Bear

Despite hav­ing a brown bear in the state of Alas­ka, we actu­al­ly have three sub-species; Griz­zly Brown Bears, Coastal Brown Bears, and the Kodi­ak Brown Bear.

Wood Bison

The Wood Bison at the Wildlife Con­ser­va­tion Cen­ter are cur­rent­ly the only herd in the Unit­ed States.

Elk

Elk were orig­i­nal­ly brought up in the 1920’s as a herd­able & ranch­able ani­mal. Our re-intro­duc­to­ry efforts took place in the 1950’s, and were large­ly unsuc­cess­ful on the main land of Alaska.

Birds

The Alas­ka Wildlife Con­ser­va­tion Cen­ter is home to a vari­ety of birds including bald eagles and great horned owls.

Lynx

The com­mon name for lynx in Alas­ka is Cana­di­an Lynx. Males are known as ​“toms,” while females are ref­er­enced as ​“mol­lies.”

Sitka Blacktail Deer

Sit­ka black-tailed deer are a diminu­tive coastal sub­species of the mule deer that is com­mon through­out west­ern North America.

Wolves

Wolves are the largest mem­ber of the canid fam­i­ly that live in Alas­ka. Adult males can weigh any­where from 85 to 120 pounds, some of the largest males reach­ing close to 150 pounds, while females aver­age 10 to 15 pounds lighter than their male counterparts.

Fox

Red fox­es are wide­spread and abun­dant in Alas­ka. There are no cur­rent pop­u­la­tion esti­mates, but red fox­es’ num­ber in the tens of thou­sands in the state.

Coyotes

Coy­otes are anoth­er mem­ber of the canid fam­i­ly resid­ing at the AWCC. They are dubbed the most vocal of the canids and are some­times referred to as the ​“song dog.” Coy­otes aver­age in size from 30 to 40 pounds, males typ­i­cal­ly weigh­ing more than females.

American Red Squirrel

Red squirrels tend to cache much of the food they collect, saving it for winter. They have cache storage areas all over their territory.

Discover the WILD of Alaska and come meet the locals! Walk on the Wild Side Tours are available year-round and include an animal encounter. Summer Moose Encounters & Bear Encounters are available for online booking. Book early to ensure your spot!