What a year this has been! Northwest Trek Wildlife Park won top honors in Association of Zoos & Aquariums’ 2021 Exhibit Award for Eagle Passage, head-started and released hundreds of endangered northern leopard frogs back into the wild, welcomed a new moose calf and celebrated the birth of a mountain goat kid, among so many other moments. Thanks for being here on this journey with us. Enjoy our best photos of 2021, taken by staff photographer Katie Cotterill. Northwest Trek won a national award for the Eagle Passage exhibit. Northwest Trek welcomed a five-month-old moose calf named Birch to the …

Just in time to burn off some of that winter break energy, Northwest Trek Wildlife Park is opening daily for a week at the end of December (Dec. 26-Jan. 2) for the return of “Winter Wildland.” Guests to the wildlife park are invited to watch in delight as animals play with holiday-themed treats and enrichments. Guests can walk the paved pathways laced with winter magic and decorations and see native Northwest animals like bald eagles, grizzly bears, gray wolves and river otters. For weeks, Northwest Trek staff have been busy as Santa’s elves, making festive cardboard cutouts and wrapped gifts, …

A moose is on the loose. Quick, look for his ears popping out from behind the ferns. A five-month-old moose calf named Birch ambled into Northwest Trek Wildlife Park’s 435-acre Free-Roaming Area Wednesday and will make his public debut this weekend. Birch arrived in early November from Alaska Zoo and has been adjusting to his new Eatonville home off-exhibit. He recently met his new buddy Aspen, a 5-year-old female moose. “We’re delighted to welcome another generation of moose and provide a new companion for Aspen,” said zoological curator Marc Heinzman. Aspen will teach Birch how to be a moose here …

On Friday, November 5, federal, state, tribal and partner biologists released five fishers from Alberta, Canada into the lush, coastal forest near Lake Ozette, the latest event in a nearly two decades-long project to restore the native species to Washington State. Fishers- a member of the mustelid or weasel family roughly the size of a housecat that feeds on rodents, hares and even porcupines- were extirpated from Washington by the 1930s due to over-trapping, poisoning and fragmentation of their forest habitat. This latest fisher release is part of an ongoing partnership led by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW), the National …

Northwest Trek Wildlife Park is now home to a healthy, five-month-old Alaskan moose calf named Birch. He will soon join Aspen, the wildlife park’s 5-year-old resident female moose, in the 435-acre Free-Roaming Area alongside Roosevelt elk, American bison, trumpeter swans, caribou, bighorn sheep and mountain goats. “It’s exciting to welcome another generation of moose to Northwest Trek, and to provide a new companion for Aspen,” said zoological curator Marc Heinzman. “Once Birch grows into adulthood, he will be a thrilling sight for our visitors as he grows his rack of antlers each year.” Birch arrived at Northwest Trek from the Alaska …

You could say we’re a bit batty for bats at Northwest Trek. We appreciate what bats offer our ecosystems — and because of that, we work hard to protect them. Northwest Trek is home to one of the largest wild bat colonies in the South Puget Sound region. The bats roost under the eaves of many of our buildings and around the wildlife park, including in all the bat boxes we’ve put on trees. Protecting bats is important Bats keep us all healthy. Pacific Northwest bats are insectivores, consuming their own body weight in bugs every night. If we didn’t …

They were literally jumping up and down as soon as they got off the buses. “Animals! We’re going to see animals!” It was the first-ever field trip for Beyond the Bell, a groundbreaking new partner program offering after-school activities and childcare to Tacoma students. But Friday October 8 was a no-school data day – and so Beyond the Bell was bringing any K-5 child who signed up on a field trip to Northwest Trek Wildlife Park, all day long. And every single one of the 155 students was incredibly excited. Beyond the Bell is a comprehensive program for Tacoma elementary …

It was the calm after the storm– a beautiful, sunny day following a weekend of heavy rain– and Lily and Reed were going on their first date. They were set up by people who deeply cared for them, and everyone was hoping they’d hit it off. That’s probably how their meet-cute story would start… if they were humans. But, in this case, Lily and Reed are trumpeter swans at Northwest Trek Wildlife Park. But, their story is just as sweet. After all, there’s a reason swans symbolize love. Swans are one of the few species known for being monogamous for …

Eagle Passage isn’t just a forever home for rescued, injured bald eagles, or an immersive experience that inspires visitors with a conservation success story. Now, the unique habitat at Northwest Trek Wildlife Park has also been nationally recognized with top honors in the 2021 Exhibit Award category from the Association of Zoos & Aquariums (AZA). The award was presented online at the AZA Virtual Annual Conference on Wednesday Sept. 22. “Receiving this award is a high honor for Northwest Trek,” said Alan Varsik, director of Northwest Trek and Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium. “Our visitors know how special Northwest Trek …

Each weekend in October, “spooky” fall fun can be found at Northwest Trek Wildlife Park. From a scavenger hunt to exploring the forest at night, there is something for everyone to enjoy. The park will be decorated with eerie spider webs, spooky glow-in-the-dark eyes and pumpkins everywhere! We encourage guests to wear their Halloween costumes any weekend of the month (we ask that adults leave their scary masks and face paint at home, please). Haunted Hike: Oct. 1-31 (Friday-Sunday), 9:30am-3pm Did you hear that? Something’s afoot at Northwest Trek. Walk our paths while you do an online scavenger hunt to …