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June 6, 2013
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DISCOVERY
News from The Grizzly & Wolf Discovery Center
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Hello and welcome!
Thanks for dropping in to the Grizzly & Wolf Discovery Center, a not-for-profit, AZA-accredited wildlife park and educational facility, with a diverse crew of staff and volunteers. We're glad you're here with us, and we hope to see you in person soon.
As usual, there's a lot going on in this issue. Enjoy the photos and the news. Get to know our amazing cast of characters, and share us with your friends. Please come visit us, right here in West Yellowstone, relax and watch the animals, or participate in one of our interactive programs and displays. Until then we wish you all the best. We hope we can bring a little discovery and excitement your way. See you soon!
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 | | Coram |
Around The Center
What's Happening at the GWDC
It is almost impossible to believe it's already June. It's a little depressing to realize the longest day of the year is little more than two weeks away, but fantastic to know that the very best of summer is ahead of us. The crowds are picking up, we're seeing lots of little people playing with our campsite display and playground, and best of all our programs are filling up with interested visitors and guests.
Technical difficulties struck yesterday here at the Center. Even though we would have told you we're not a very technical bunch, it's surprising how much we rely on computers, our network, and the internet. If you tried to watch our bear or wolf cams yesterday or today, you may not have seen much, and if you were on the edge of your seat waiting for this email newsletter, we're sorry you had to wait. We apologize for any delays or inconvenience you may have experienced, but we're back up and running.
Just for kicks, here's a video link to some great footage of Sam showing everyone the extent bears will go to for a little birdseed. Enjoy!
Remember if you have any questions, or just want to know more about any aspect of the Center, you can always give us a call at 406.646.7001, reply to this newsletter, or email
info@grizzlydiscoveryctr.com. We will try to keep you informed and up to date in as many ways as we can. Your involvement and interest in what we do keeps us doing it! We welcome your feedback and suggestions. Thanks again for tuning in.
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 | | Grant |
Bears, Wolves, and Birds
(Oh My!)
Animal Updates
We've had several questions lately about bear behavior and for lack of a better term, behavior management of wild bears. Even in captivity, if bears are respected as wild animals, natural behaviors are appropriate and to be expected. While we provide care that bears in the wild wouldn't necessarily receive, like worming twice a year and a controlled diet, and try to enrich the habitats with unexpected and challenging items and experiences, the Center's goal is to keep our grizzly bears and wolves as wild as possible for two main reasons:
1. We believe it is infinitely better for the animals' physical and mental health to be able to exhibit natural behaviors, and
2. Our mission is to educate people about these amazing wild animals in the Yellowstone Ecosystem. In order to do that, the animals need to be able to exhibit behavior that they normally would in the wild.
There are many roadside facilities who neglect, abuse, or have too many surplus baby animals every year that need to be euthanized due to lack of space, just for the entertainment of the public. For this reason we hope you'll be able to visit the GWDC, view the animals from a safe distance, respect their wildness, and learn about their behaviors. Now we will gracefully step down from the soap box. We have lots of container testing coming up. Bear-resistant container testing is a great way to challenge animals to respond in natural ways to items they could find in a wild habitat visited by humans. The instinctive behavior they exhibit allows us to learn about how wild animals react and how to protect animals and humans from harmful interactions. If you are going to be around and would like to volunteer to film the testing, please contact Randy. Both the wolves and the bears have begun receiving enrichment items from the Summer Wish List! Big thanks go out to friends of the Center who have sent dried fruit, granola, extracts, and unsalted nuts already!
Stay tuned here and we'll keep you posted on the reason we're all here: the bears, wolves, birds, and our bear dog Nakiska, who will be participating in our summer programs! Remember to check out our webcams when you're wondering what's going on around here or wanting to stay connected until your next visit. Every issue of our email newsletter will have updates on our animals, and we will still be sending quarterly newsletters through the mail. Our next Howls & Growls quarterly newsletter will be sent out in just a couple weeks. If you want to be added to our H&G mailing list, give us a call. We'd love to greet you and tell you how to join up.
Check out our bears...
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Education
Knowledge Is a Powerful Tool
As you can see, our April Certified Interpretive Guide Training class was a bright spot in our long, chilly spring. We just got the results back last week from the CIG testing, and every single participant passed with flying colors on their first try! Congratulations everyone!
We have been joined for the summer by Ramona, a knowledgeable and energetic addition to our Education team. Madeline will return for the summer next week, and we're excited to introduce two summer interns, Amy Helling and Kelsey Reed, who will work with Sarah & Caelen on the curriculum and implementation for our new EPA-funded Bear-Safe Community Program. Trent & AJ are working with the Monterey Bay Aquarium to plan a workshop for the National Interpretive Program. Lots a-doing in the Education world right now.
Memorial Day weekend brought lots of folks to the habitats, and kept our naturalists on their toes answering questions and interpreting animal behavior for visitors. As summer brings more people we are planning to introduce a free audio tour option for those who want to listen to information on their cell phones. We're brainstorming other ways to provide more information and answer more questions, so if you have any ideas or suggestions, please let us know!
If you're interested in visiting the GWDC with your family or with your students, or if you'd like to sponsor a Teaching Trunk or outreach program, let us know. One of the Center's naturalists can visit your school for special assemblies, programs or activities. As you know, some of our birds-of-prey can travel for such programs as can our large collection of wolf and bear artifacts. We will customize the program or the Teaching Trunk for your group and areas of special interest.
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Developments
New and Exciting Opportunities to Support the GWDC
We may be looking down the road a bit, but next year is our 15th Anniversary as a nonprofit organization and we're already getting excited. You'll be hearing more from us about a book project, matching donors for 15th year donations, and a big summer online auction. If you have any other great ways we could celebrate, we're all ears!
In the last issue we told you about our summer raffles, and should have said the beautiful quilt you see here was handmade and donated by WENDY Bishop. Sorry for the mistake, and thank you Wendy for your handiwork and generosity! Tickets are $10 each and can be purchased in any quantity here. Stop by and see the quilt hanging in the Naturalist Cabin, and be sure to get your name in the drawing to take it home when the raffle ends in the fall. It is definitely a one-of-a-kind treasure celebrating the wildlife of Yellowstone.
We also told you about our Summer Wish List last time. It has become a great tradition here at the GWDC, like Christmas in July. You'll see the full list on the back of the upcoming Howls & Growls newsletter, and we have mentioned it on Facebook. We've also put together an Amazon.com Wish List, which we hope is fun and easy. Several items from Amazon have already shown up mysteriously, and we're not sure whether they make us or the animals happier! Thanks so much for looking and shopping for the Grizzly & Wolf Discovery Center!!
We are grateful that you are involved with the Grizzly & Wolf Discovery Center.
Thanks again for all you do. We look forward to hearing from you soon!
Keep reading about other ways to support the GWDC... |
 | | Adara |
Eye Candy
Photographs and Artwork from the Grizzly & Wolf Discovery Center
We are honored to have many artists and photographers visit and support the GWDC. Their vision and talents inspire and enliven our work here, so we thought it would be nice to feature some of their work in every issue of our newsletter. If you'd like to see your artwork here, send us an image! Paintings, sculptures, and mixed media are welcome too.
Our thanks to Denim Hellyer, Gretchen Heine, and Lynda and Roger Squire for this week's photographs.
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We hope you enjoy this issue, learn a little something, and feel like you are here with us for just a few minutes. It's a pretty special place to be. Have a great couple of weeks and a fantastic summer, and we'll look forward to seeing you soon. Thanks again for all you do.
Sincerely,
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 | | Sam |
The GWDC Staff
Grizzly & Wolf Discovery Center |
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Gift Shop
Happenings
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Greetings from the Gift Shop!
We are excited to welcome Shea, Lizzie and Joseph to our Gift Shop and Admissions crew. It's shaping up to be a terrific summer. We have new faces, new books, and new gift and souvenir items ready and waiting for you.
One of our new favorite home items is a gorgeous charger plate. It would make a great addition to your dining room table or a striking gift for a grad or a dad. We also have some striking glassware and coffee mugs. Come in and shop soon!
Thank you for supporting and shopping at the Grizzly & Wolf Discovery Center!
| For a limited time, receive FREE SHIPPING when you order a 2014 GWDC Calendar!
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