BC Wildlife Park
We made a weekend trip to Kamloops during autumn of 2020, and visiting the BC Wildlife Park was something I had planned to do. Unfortunately, it didn’t work out as our trip was very short (just one night!), however, I’m glad it worked out when we returned to Kamloops in the summer of 2021. This attraction appealed to me as it is not a run-of-the-mill zoo, but rather, a wildlife park and rehabilitation centre for orphaned and injured wildlife. I was keen to see animals native to Canada at a wildlife park, having visited several game reserves in South Africa while growing up. This experience would indeed be different.
It was 38 degrees celsius when we arrived in Kamloops. In the midst of this record-breaking heatwave were several forest fires that had sparked nearby, rendering the air thick with smoke. It was incredibly hot and dry and the air quality was poor. We stopped at Tim Hortons to grab a donut and ice coffee (typical road trip-fare), before heading to the park. We purchased our tickets online to avoid any wait times, as the park was scheduled to close within the hour. Luckily for us, it was pretty quiet when we got there – perhaps everyone was at the lake or indoors to escape the heat.
I think we got our money’s worth of the tickets during the first few minutes at the park. The very first attraction we walked up to were the grizzly bears. Dawson (female) and Knute (male) are rescued siblings that came to the Park in 2011 as orphans from the Yukon. We met Dawson first – we couldn’t miss her, as she was lazing in a pool at the edge of the enclosure. She really put on a show, flopping and splashing in the water to cool herself off, turning on her back so she could lazily scratch her knees. She seemed very distracted too – the object of her distraction being her brother Knute, who was pacing the edge of the enclosure, mouth open as he tried to withstand the scorching heat. I’ve never seen any kind of bear this close before, so these grizzlies were definitely a highlight for me. Large and fearsome, up close they seem so cuddly (of course, I know better than to cuddle a grizzly bear!).
There was a ‘Birds of Prey’ exhibit, where we were fortunate to see bald eagles, several varieties of owl, golden eagles and falcons. I felt terrible for these creatures, all of their mouths were open and many were visibly panting – lurking in the shade to try and shield themselves from the heat.
Because of the heat, several of the animals were nowhere to be seen – such as the Kermode bear and the black bear. We did spot the cougar, hiding in tall grass beneath shady trees. We also spotted the Artic wolf, hiding in a similar fashion. We took in a few more sights but it was soon time for the park to close, so we headed on out, eager to reach our next destination, Revelstoke!
