It’s baby season at Northwest Trek Wildlife Park.
Guests can try and spot three Roosevelt elk calves and six black-tailed deer fawns in the 435-acre Free-Roaming Area during a Wild Drive or Keeper Adventure Tour. Plus, an added bonus: wild goslings and ducklings occasionally making an appearance.
6/16/2022 (Photo/Katie Cotterill) Northwest Trek Wildlife Park.
“We expect even more births this spring and summer,” said Assistant Curator Dave Meadows. “It’s fun to watch the newborns as they grow, sticking very close to their mothers at first and later gaining the confidence to venture a bit farther away.”
Roosevelt elk (named for President Theodore Roosevelt) are social, polygamous members of the deer family that can form very large herds. They breed from September- November, and after an 8.5-month pregnancy, the female gives birth to a single calf weighing 30-35 pounds.
Black-tailed deer breed from October-December, and after an 8.5-month pregnancy, females give birth to one fawn the first year, and twins thereafter. Fawns weigh about 7 pounds.
6/16/2022 (Photo/Katie Cotterill) Northwest Trek Wildlife Park.
The Free-Roaming Area is home to herds of bison, elk, deer, caribou, bighorn sheep, moose, and other animals that wander at will through the gorgeous landscape.
During a Wild Drive, guests can experience the awe and wonder of the Free-Roaming Area from the comfort of their own car.
The guided and narrated tour takes you past the roaming herds of animals. Look close and you might catch a glimpse of a fawn darting across the road or the elk calves munching on the grass among their large herd. The tour lasts about one hour as it travels through meadows and forests, passing lakes, ponds and stands of soaring evergreen trees.
During a Keeper Adventure Tour, guests can hop in a Jeep with one of Northwest Trek’s keepers.
The Keeper Adventure Tours go off-road and experience a 90-minute animal adventure. This experience allows you to get up close to animals in the thick forested areas and ask a keeper questions one-on-one.
In addition to the Free-Roaming Area, guests can walk paved pathways through natural habitats that are home to two grizzly bears, two American black bears, gray wolves, red foxes, a cougar, Canada lynx, bobcats, river otters, beavers, and other animals. All are viewable from up-close platforms or walkways.
And if the human kids need to run off a little energy, Kids’ Trek is the perfect nature-inspired play area for children from toddlers to tweens. A visit to Kids’ Trek also is free with admission or membership to the wildlife park.