Yukon Wildlife Preserve

The preserve covers about seven hundred hectares of natural terrain divided into large enclosures, holding eleven northern species: muskoxen, wood bison, moose, elk, caribou, mule deer, mountain goats, Dall and Stone sheep, arctic fox and lynx. The animals live in habitat rather than pens, so viewing depends on where they happen to be, and a five-kilometre loop road is walked, cycled or taken by bus. It also functions as a rehabilitation centre, taking in orphaned and injured animals from across the territory, some of which are released. Muskoxen and thinhorn sheep are the species most visitors have never seen.

What you actually see

• The muskoxen - a species most visitors will not have seen elsewhere.
• The thinhorn sheep - Dall and Stone sheep on constructed rock slopes.
• The five-kilometre loop - walked, cycled or by interpretive bus.
• The rehabilitation work - orphaned and injured northern wildlife.

When to go

Year-round; winter shows the animals in full coat and is when the muskoxen look best, though it is bitterly cold on the loop. Summer has long daylight and easier walking.

Honest expectations

Enclosures are large, so animals are often far off or out of sight; binoculars help. The loop is five kilometres on foot in whatever weather. The bus runs on a schedule.

Nearby

Takhini Hot Springs is adjacent; Whitehorse lies south.