The Alaska Zoo is close to reaching capacity to house orphaned animals. In may, the Zoo was able to welcome the very chatty brown bear cub named Gator of Hood Bay, near Angoon. Six moose calves arrived shortly after, each with a name based on Australian wildlife such as Kangaroo, Mouse, Wombat, Echidna, Emu and Wallaby.
“From this time to July, we’re most busy in bringing in orphaned animals” said the executive director of the zoo, Pat Lampi.
Zoo officials are also hosting Grubby an opossum who took a trip to Washington towards Homer in an unidentified shipping container this spring. While she’s gone from the wild the biologists are trying to capture the litter that could be their offspring born prior to the capture in the last week of April.
Lampi explained that how many orphans that the Zoo is able to foster is decided by Alaska Department of Fish and Game and is based on the number of permanent homes that are available in the year.
The zoo does not keep the orphans they take in. The focus of the staff is helping the animals recover, which usually arrive with a bad odor or poor health. Once they’re in good health, the zoo cooperates together with Fish and Game to place animals in zoos located in the lower 48 states. Lampi told me they’ve sent orphans to zoos throughout the United States.
“It’s not the ideal scenario because they’re not living in the wild however, these animals could be preserved,” he said. “They are advocates for the species they belong to and carry out lots of very good conservation and education work.”
Transporting animals can be challenging. The majority of them are transported on cargo flights that have many attendants. They require permits medical records, permits as well as health certifications.
Meanwhile, orphans can be seen in the Alaska Zoo – Gator the bear living in the cub’s orphaned facility as well as the moose’s calves are next to the infirmary yard.
Wild, Lampi stated that you shouldn’t believe that an animal that is young and orphaned simply because it’s not in its own. Many species abandon their infants to search for food.
“It’s best to not interfer,” he said. “You make contact with someone at Fish and Game and let them know the location and then let them verify sure that it’s truly an orphan and from the kindness of your heart you’re not making the orphan by yourself.”
The zoo adopted an abandoned cub of the polar bear known as Kova in November. Kova was found under the dumpster of a building located in Prudhoe Bay. Kova was put under the rabies quarantine protocol for six months. This was completed on May 30. Kova made her first appearance in public at the zoo on Sunday.
