Robin Moore is the Sales and Marketing Manager for the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center (AWCC) in Portage. She is a part of AWCC because of their community-oriented mindset, including the Alaska wildlife community! The Center is dedicated to preserving Alaska’s wildlife education, pursuing conservation research, and providing quality animal care.
In 1941, the Wood Bison, a species native to the Alaska wild, had been declared extinct. A sighting occurred in the early 1900s in Eastern Alaska, but no one had seen any since. It wasn’t until 1957 that an exciting discovery was made, a small herd of pure Wood Bison was discovered by some federal wildlife officers flying over a remote part of Alberta, Canada, sparking a movement to restore the species to their natural habitats!
In 2003, AWCC took in 13 Wood Bison from the Yukon to build a herd. In collaboration with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, they released 130 of the species into the wild in 2015! Today, AWCC looks after a growing herd of 22 Wood Bison at the Center.
“We provide education about the species we have at the Center, such as the Wood Bison,” Robin says, “their diets, behavior, and their wild counterparts. All are native to Alaska. We are especially proud of the role we played in the Wood Bison restoration project.”
Learn more about this project and more at AlaskaWildlife.org.