Alaska Fish & Wildlife News
March 2023

Placing Alaska Wildlife in Zoos
Homes are Hard to Find

Two Kodiak bears are at home in a Wisconsin zoo and their brother is in Ohio. Orphaned as cubs in 2015, these three bears are a zoo-placement success story. But it’s far more difficult to place animals in zoos than people realize, and the devil is in the details.

“People think there are just automatically homes for orphaned animals, that’s a common misconception” said Patrick Lampi, the executive director of the Alaska Zoo in Anchorage. The Alaska Zoo has long been ...   Wildlife in Zoos Article Continued

Helping Sea Lions
"Lose the Loop"

Young Steller sea lions are curious and playful, which can get them into trouble with marine debris. Loops are particularly dangerous – those hard plastic packing bands that secure bait boxes and luggage, big rubber bands used with crab pots, loops of rope and things like fan belts. Pups and juveniles toss them around and swim with them, and the loops get caught around their necks. As they grow, the band cuts more deeply and eventually can kill the animal.

Lauri Jemison is a state ...   Helping Sea Lions Article Continued

Women in Science at Fish and Game

March is Women’s History Month, and we are spotlighting women at the Alaska Department of Fish and Game who are working towards sustainable natural resources in Alaska.

The wildlife field has made great strides in becoming more accessible to women over the decades, and now more women than ever are earning bachelor’s degrees and entering the wildlife field. The progress made is incredible and uplifting, but unfinished. Today, 37% of wildlife biologists in the U.S. are women.

A ...   Women in Science Article Continued