The News Tribune (Lite) - Northwest Trek caribou return to park’s free-roaming area

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Section: Adventure

Northwest Trek caribou return to park’s free-roaming area

THE NEWS TRIBUNE
It’s spring, and the caribou are back in the free-roaming area at Northwest Trek Wildlife Park. A bonus this year is that last spring’s calves are out as well. Two calves were born at the park, and two others came from Calgary Zoo over the winter.

For their protection, caribou aren’t exhibited during the elk rut in the fall and winter. The females are taken off exhibit again in early summer when they are ready to calve. The males are usually taken off exhibit in the late summer when the elk rut begins.

Woodland caribou have been in the Trek collection since the park opened in 1975, but they are an endangered species in Washington. The park also has two specimens of barren-ground caribou from Alaska and a hybrid calf.

Northwest Trek is a 723-acre zoological park operated by Metro Parks Tacoma and is 35 miles southeast of Tacoma off Highway 161 near Eatonville. For more information, call 360-832-6117 or visit www.nwtrek.org.

The News Tribune