Despite the unpredictable and often unseasonably cold weather, Discovery Wildlife Park is off to a good start for the 2014 season.
Despite the unpredictable and often unseasonably cold weather, Discovery Wildlife Park is off to a good start for the 2014 season.
Highlighted by the inclusion of Alberta's first cheetahs in almost two decades, the arrival of a pair of adorable black wolf cubs and an imminent worldwide broadcast of a National Geographic show that features a renowned veterinarian plying her skills at the park, zoo officials are understandably excited for this season's prospects.
The zoo will soon be featured front and centre in the current new television docureality series on National Geographic's subsidiary channel Nat Geo Wild called Dr. Oakley: Yukon Vet. The show is being aired in 35 countries.
Dr. Michelle Oakley, who practises in both Alaska and the Yukon, is being promoted for the show as the only all-species vet for hundreds of kilometres across the North's rugged landscape, with her patients being anything from bald eagles and sled dogs to muskox.
"They worked with the bear, a tiger, jaguar and did medical stuff," said Doug Bos, co-owner of Discovery Wildlife Park, of the show's staff during filming. "The vet helped do medical procedures without using sedation.
"They spent all day filming here a bunch of things. When they were filming they really focused on our mechanical bear for the entry of the thing," he added.
Film crews were at the zoo for their shoot last year and episodes for the show began airing last month. Although Bos has seen promos for the Innisfail-based episode on Twitter he still does not know the date when it will be aired.
Repeated calls from the Province to the show's producers were not immediately returned.
"I don't know exactly what is going to be on the episode we are on, but on all the other shows they had to use anesthetic to put them to sleep so she could do all this stuff," said Bos. "What they featured here was that our animals are trained so they don't have to use any anesthetics and can work on them while they are awake. You don't have to compromise their health by putting them to sleep."
Meanwhile, the 2014 opening day for the zoo was on May 1. About 40 visitors braved the unseasonably cool weather to see Innisfail's special critters, including the park's prized pair of cheetahs.
Bos said while there is a lot of current interest from the public and media over the new cheetahs, the zoo has just received two new special animals – a pair of black wolf cubs.
"Their eyes have just opened. They are that young. They are on a touchy diet. Their diet was screwed up when they were found," said Bos. "We actually got three in and we lost one of them within a few hours of getting him, because they were improperly looked after before we got them."
He said the arrival of the wolf cubs comes as the park is creating a YouTube video series called Growing Up Orphan.
For further information on the Discovery Wildlife Park's 2014 season visit www.discoverywildlifepark.com or on Facebook.
