Just as humans get excited for a full plate of food- so do animals. Some of Northwest Trek’s woodlands and wetland animals were recently given their own Thanksgiving feast. Their dinner plate: a cornucopia. Skunk Skunks are omnivores and eat a variety of foods seasonally, including vegetable material and up to their weight in insects every week. For Milton the skunk’s feast, keeper Wendi Mello gave him a mixture of blueberries, pears, yams, omnivore and insectivore chow and a handful of mealworms. Mealworms are his favorite food, said Mello. She added that Milton also likes cranberries (how festive!) and eats …

There’s a new cat in town! Northwest Trek is now home to Tahoma, a 4-year-old male bobcat. Tahoma was raised as a pet until recently. Bobcats are illegal to own as pets in Washington State, and his owner was forced to surrender him. Tahoma joins the wildlife park’s resident male bobcat, 8-year-old Tanner, who was also raised by humans before coming to Northwest Trek. Because of the cats’ comfortability around people, they both are not able to be released back into the wild. “Bobcats are wild animals, and wild animals don’t make good pets. It takes generations of careful breeding …

Fall looks pretty much the same across the country: changing leaves, plaid or flannel clothing, pumpkin spice lattes (or pumpkin spiced everything), corn mazes and hay bales on doorsteps. But at Northwest Trek Wildlife Park, there’s something else to add to the list that signals the change of the seasons: Roosevelt elk mating season, known as rut. On the first day of fall, a few park employees hopped into the Keeper Adventure Tour Jeep and headed out into the park’s 435-acre Free-Roaming Area to experience rut. It was a classic autumn morning in Western Washington, dark, drizzly, kind-of-cold but not-quite-freezing-cold …

Northwest Trek Wildlife Park opened on July 17, 1975. Today, the park embodies the vision of Dr. David T. “Doc” and Connie Hellyer, who donated their land to Metro Parks Tacoma in the early 1970s to preserve it as a wildlife park. If the Hellyers were alive today to walk through the park, they would see 185 animals, including eagles, bison, grizzlies and wolves enjoying the land they left behind just for them. They would also see many of the same towering trees. The Hellyers knew their lake-and-forest-studded land in the shadow of Mount Rainier was something special, and they …

Our Bear Tracks event had to be cancelled this year due to Covid-19 restrictions – but that didn’t stop our keepers from giving black bears Benton and Fern a fun camping experience! Even without guests watching, the bears really enjoyed exploring this “camp picnic” keepers set up for them, complete with their own unique way of using a cooler. Why do we do this? Well, for starters, it’s great enrichment for our bears. Offering things or experiences that encourage their natural behaviors (think sniffing, foraging, digging) is excellent for their physical and mental well-being. For this experience, our keepers carefully …

In honor of National Volunteer Week, Northwest Trek Wildlife Park employees thank the park’s irreplaceable volunteers for their time and energy all year-round. In 2019, 190 volunteers at Northwest Trek logged a total of 9,115 hours. They volunteered in many departments, including animal care, veterinary, conservation, education, horticulture, and maintenance, as well as with the Northwest Trek Foundation Board and on special events. “We are so grateful for every single one of our volunteers who helps to make the park thrive,” said volunteer coordinator, MacKenzie Shaefer. Highlighting our volunteers Terri Terault, Animal Care Volunteer Terri Terault has volunteered at Northwest …

While Northwest Trek Wildlife Park may be closed to the public, the animals in the park continue to receive exceptional care. “Despite the concerns of the world, our animals are healthy and doing well,” said Zoological Curator Marc Heinzman. “Our head veterinarian and animal care team continue to work onsite and provide our animals with a high level of care every day during our temporary closure. “ Staff planned in advance for the pandemic, and currently have a surplus of essential food, medicines and medical supplies for the animals. That includes six months of meat, a year of fish, a …

Amphibians are excellent ecosystem monitors. If their populations are changing, you can bet something is happening in the habitat. That’s why Northwest Trek staff routinely survey the grounds for eight different species: rough skinned newts, northwestern salamanders, long-toed salamanders, Western toads, Oregon spotted frogs, red legged frogs, Pacific tree frogs and bull frogs. That data is regularly reported to the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife to better protect and conserve the amphibians for the future. Northwest Trek’s recent temporary closure to help slow the spread of coronavirus has not stopped staff on grounds from monitoring for egg masses of …

“Caaaribou!” sings Northwest Trek Free-Roaming Area keeper Dave Meadows. The morning sun seeps through the trees and the birds are chirping. It’s an exciting day in the park. It’s the day the woodland caribou will leave their behind-the-scenes winter home and join the other animals in the 435 acre Free-Roaming Area. Each fall during elk breeding season or “rut”, the bull elk battle over dominant status and mating rights. To keep the caribou safe, the caribou are taken to their own large, forested space, away from the rutting elk. On this sunny March day, Meadows calls the caribou. They know …

Northwest Trek Wildlife Park recently became the classroom for local middle school students. Northwest Trek’s education experts created lesson plans about the different types of enrichment the animals can receive for the students from Columbia Crest A-S.T.E.M Middle School in Ashford. Animal enrichment is an important part of animal care. It creates a more stimulating environment for the animals while encouraging natural behaviors. The keeper staff at Northwest Trek provide a variety of enrichment that challenge the animals both physically and mentally. In February, Jessica Moore, the Education Curator at Northwest Trek, visited the Columbia Crest students in their classroom. …