Conserve

Yes, they’re adorable.

Fishers are a native carnivore in the weasel family. They climb trees but prefer to hunt on the forest floor. They eat small rodents but also fruit and mushrooms (though ironically, not much fish). But fishers also have incredibly soft, silky fur – and that’s been their greatest threat.

We’re helping restore fishers to the Cascades.

Counting to protect.

White-nosed syndrome is a deadly fungal disease that has killed millions of hibernating bats in eastern North America – and now it’s here too. Named for the white fungus that grows on the muzzle of infected bats, the disease sickens, weakens and eventually kills hibernating bats.

Northwest Trek is working with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife to collect data on bat colonies, so we can better understand and protect bats.

Restored, relocated.

Our mountain goat kids arrived in fall 2018. Part of a larger group translocated from Washington’s Olympic Mountains (where they are non-native and destructive) to the Cascades (where their populations are depleted), the kids couldn’t be paired with a known mother, so found their new home at Northwest Trek.

The translocation was an ongoing partnership of the National Park Service, Washington Dept. of Fish and Wildlife and the USDA Forest Service, with support from area tribes.

Restoring an American icon.

Imagine – you’re hiking in deep, silent Northwest forest. Suddenly you round a corner and freeze – a grizzly bear is standing on the path.

Actually, chances are that won’t happen. Biologists estimate there are fewer than 10 grizzlies in the North Cascades. – an area of nearly 10,000 square miles. And if we take no action, there will soon be none.

We have to protect this American icon – together.

Small but vital.

It’s one of the delights of summer hiking in the Northwest – to come across a lake and spot a demure Western pond turtle sunning itself on a log.

But those native turtles are in rapid decline, due to non-native predators, loss of habitat and shell disease. Northwest Trek is working with the Association of Zoos & Aquariums (AZA) to show folks how to conserve this endangered reptile, led by education curator Jessica Moore.

Cygnet by cygnet.

This species disappeared from the Midwest thanks to hunting and loss of habitat in the 1800s.

Now these beautiful swans are making a recovery  – and Northwest Trek has played a key role.

We’ve sent over four dozen swan cygnets, or babies, hatched here to the Northwest Swan Conservation Association, which works to repopulate swans in the Northwest and Midwest.

Reducing plastic and more.

Northwest Trek Wildlife Park, Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium, Lancer Hospitality, and Wildlife Trading Company have joined forces to reduce single-use plastics. We don’t provide plastic bottles, plastic lids, or straws in our cafes. We installed water bottle filling stations to make it easy for guests to have fresh water. And we don’t use plastic bags in our gift shop.

Please bring your own reusable bottles, bags and straws, and help us help the planet!