Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center

Eyal Di in the last week

Lovely Worth a visit if you are in the area

Mellissa Dzion in the last week

As part of a salmonberry tour, our last stop of the day was at the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center. I've been to many different conservation centers across the world, but this one was a big disappointment! You are responsible for your time at the center as you're on a self guided tour. No one from the establishment even acknowledged anyone in my group. Our tour representative, Sean, did provide information to those who remained on the tour bus and drove through. The facilities seemed 'thrown' together at best! It consisted of several tall chain length fences that housed different species of wild animals. Their respective cages were unkempt and many had overgrown vegetation! While I understand that these aspects are meant to replicate their natural habitats, it was difficult to view some of the animals. In my opinion, it seemed more like a road-side zoo than a conservation center or educational facility. (Don't believe the beautiful advertisements you see online nor in the pamphlets handed out on tours/in hotels!) I would also suggest that it was a bit unsafe for pedestrians, especially young children. While allowed to walk or drive through the conservation center, most people did choose to walk it. There are NO safety rails or contained walk ways. Nor is there signage to tell you specifically where to walk or specifically where to drive. Many of the available walkways were also checkered with puddles of water, some even completely under water. I saw many people reaching over the wooden farm fences (meant to keep attendees farther away from the animal cages) and physically placing their camera/cell phones into the animal cages for clearer pictures! This is extremely dangerous with the wild animals there for rehabilitation that are already suffering painful injuries!