Shubenacadie Wildlife Park | |
---|---|
45°05′37″N63°23′35″W / 45.0936208°N 63.393184°W | |
Date opened | 1954 |
Location | Shubenacadie, Nova Scotia, Canada |
Land area | 40 ha (99 acres) [1] |
No. of animals | 123 |
No. of species | 53 |
Website | wildlifepark |
The Shubenacadie Provincial Wildlife Park is a government-operated wildlife park located in Shubenacadie, Nova Scotia, Canada. The 40-hectare park includes animals, an interpretive nature centre operated by Ducks Unlimited Canada, hiking trails, a picnic area and playground.
The park began in the late 1940s as a refuge for orphaned white-tailed deer run by Eldon Pace. By the early 1950s, there was so much interest from the public that the park officially opened in 1954. Mr. Pace was the superintendent of the park until 1988.
Over the decades the park has expanded and developed into one of Nova Scotia's most popular tourist sites. Throughout the park's history countless orphaned and injured animals, birds and reptiles have been cared for and rehabilitated. From the beginning, the park has been educating visitors about wildlife and environmental issues with thousands of school children participating in onsite education programming.
Between 2003 and 2008 the park was regulated as a game sanctuary under the Wildlife Act (R.S.N.S. 1989, c. 504). [2] In 2008 the regulations were changed to officially designate the park as a wildlife park under the act. [3]
The park is open 9 am to 6:30 pm seven days a week between May 15th and October 15th, and 9 am to 3 pm weekends only between October 16th and May 14th. [4]
The park is home to over 50 species of mammals and birds, many of which have permanent injuries or cannot be released into the wild. [5]
The full list of mammal species displayed at the park includes the Dall sheep, Bighorn sheep, Goats, Moose, Elk, Red deer, White-tailed deer, Eastern coyotes, Wolves, Red foxes, American martens, American mink, Fisher, North American river otters, Striped skunk, North American beavers, Groundhogs, Patagonian mara, Porcupine, Snowshoe hare, Bobcats, Cougar, Eurasian lynx, American black bears, and the Raccoons. [6]
The full list of birds displayed at the park includes the American kestrels, Bald eagles, Barn owl, Barred owls, Black vultures, Great horned owls, Peregrine falcons, Red-tailed hawks, Turkey vultures, Emu, Common raven, Reeves's pheasants, Himalayan monals, Swinhoe's pheasant, Cheer pheasant, Lady Amherst's pheasant, Golden pheasants, Silver pheasants, Mikado pheasants, Helmeted guineafowl, and Mrs. Hume's pheasant. [7]
Additionally, the park also has several captive waterfowl, including Barnacle geese, Black swans, Cackling geese, Canada geese, Mute swans, and American Pekins. Due to the worldwide outbreak of Avian influenza, these birds, along with the Peafowl, have been temporarily taken off display.
Shubenacadie Wildlife Park was formerly home to the only Sable Island horses in captivity, until they died in 2019. [8]
The Wildlife Park is home to Shubenacadie Sam, the first groundhog in North America to make a prediction on Groundhog Day thanks to Nova Scotia's Atlantic Time Zone. The groundhog's prediction happens at 8 am in a public ceremony that draws several hundred people to the park every year since 1987 and is now broadcast on Facebook and Twitter. [9]
A local author named Doretta Groenendyk released a book about Shubenacadie Sam titled "Groundhog Night" in September 2022, which tells a story about Sam visiting the animals in the park and preparing for his appearance on Groundhog Day. [10] The story is also displayed on signs around the park, for visitors to read as they visit the animal enclosures.
The Shubenacadie Wildlife Park is home to the Greenwing Legacy Centre, a collaboration project between Ducks Unlimited Canada and the Nova Scotia Department of Lands and Forestry. The centre offers educational programming and interactive activities such as bird-watching, as well as a gift shop, and it maintains and operates the St. Andrew's Marsh Trail and several other wetland walking trails. [11]
Cape Breton Highlands National Park is a Canadian national park on northern Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia. The park was the first national park in the Atlantic provinces of Canada and covers an area of 948 square kilometres (366 sq mi). It is one of 42 in Canada's system of national parks.
The Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge Complex is part of the United States system of National Wildlife Refuges (NWR). It is located in northern California, in the valley of the Sacramento River.
Game or quarry is any wild animal hunted for animal products, for recreation ("sporting"), or for trophies. The species of animals hunted as game varies in different parts of the world and by different local jurisdictions, though most are terrestrial mammals and birds. Fish caught non-commercially are also referred to as game fish.
Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge is a National Wildlife Refuge and is overseen by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. The refuge borders the Columbia River and is located west of the city of Ridgefield, Washington. The wildlife haven is split by Lake River. The refuge, which provides a year-round habitat and a migration stop for a variety of bird species, protects more than 5,200 acres (2,100 ha) of marshes, grasslands, and woodlands
Shubenacadie is a village located in Hants County, in central Nova Scotia, Canada. As of 2021, the population was 411.
Lost Trail National Wildlife Refuge is a 8,834-acre (3,575 ha) National Wildlife Refuge of the United States located in Montana. Established in 1999, it is one of the newest National Wildlife Refuges in the U.S. and is managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, an agency of the U.S. Department of the Interior. The refuge was originally a sprawling horse and cattle ranch dating back to the late 19th century and was known as the Lost Trail Ranch. The refuge consists of prairie and wetlands, and has a wide diversity of plant and animal species, including over 100 species of birds such as canada geese, sandhill crane, wood duck, green-winged teals and herons. Several species of grouse also inhabit the refuge. Predatory bird species such as the great horned owl and red-tailed hawk are also found here.
DeSoto National Wildlife Refuge, created in 1958, is located along the banks of the Missouri River in the U.S. states of Iowa and Nebraska. The 8,362-acre (3,384 ha) refuge preserves an area that would have been otherwise lost to cultivation. In 1960, an Army Corps of Engineers channelization project on the Missouri River moved the main river channel in the area to the west. The former river channel became DeSoto Lake, a seven-mile long oxbow lake. As a result, part of the Nebraska portion of the refuge lies on the east side of the Missouri River.
Lacreek National Wildlife Refuge is a National Wildlife Refuge of the United States located in South Dakota. It covers 16,570 acres (67 km2) and is managed by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service.
Arrowwood National Wildlife Refuge is located in the U.S. state of North Dakota. Arrowwood NWR is a part of the Arrowwood National Wildlife Refuge Complex, and is managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The refuge parallels 16 miles (27 km) of the James River and is a mixture of wetlands, forest and prairie. Efforts to ensure the refuge continues to provide prime nesting habitat for waterfowl include prescribed fire, haying, crop cultivation and livestock grazing. The refuge has forests with oak and hackberry which are uncommon on the prairie. It is believed that the name for the refuge is derived from Native American naming for arrow wood, as the wood in the forest was prized for the making of arrows.
The Sable Island horse is a small feral horse found on Sable Island, off the coast of Nova Scotia, Canada. It is usually dark in colour. The first horses were released on the island in the late 1700s, and soon became feral. Additional horses were later transported to improve the herd's breeding stock. They were rounded up for private use and sale for slaughter, which by the 1950s had placed them in danger of extinction. During the 2018 study, the estimated population was 500 horses, up from the roughly 300 recorded in the 1970s.
The natural history of Minnesota covers the plant and animal species of the U.S. state of Minnesota. The continental climate and location of Minnesota at the physiographic intersection of the Laurentian and the Interior Plains influences its plant and animal life. Three of North America's biomes converge in Minnesota: prairie grasslands in the southwestern and western parts of the state, the eastern temperate deciduous forests in the east-central and the southeast, and the coniferous forest in the north-central and northeast.
ZooAmerica is a zoo located in Hershey, Pennsylvania, United States. It was founded in 1910 by Milton S. Hershey with a few animals, including bears, birds, and deer. Today, it covers 11 acres and is home to more than 75 species and 200 individual animals, including some that are rare and endangered.
Metro Richmond Zoo is a privately owned, for-profit zoo in Chesterfield County, Virginia. It is located in the central Virginia area, off of U.S. Route 360, about 20 miles southwest of Richmond. Metro Richmond Zoo encompasses about 70 acres (28 ha) and houses around 2,000 animals representing over 190 species, including reticulated giraffe, white rhinoceros, snow leopard, cheetah and Grant's zebra.
The fauna of Toronto include a variety of different species situated within the city limits. Toronto contains a mosaic of ecosystems that includes forests, rivers, streams, and wetlands, which allows it to support a large variety of fauna. Approximately 87 to 90 per cent of the city's indigenous flora and fauna inhabit the city reside within the Toronto ravine system. The city's ravine system, creeks and rivers are wildlife corridors that allow animals to travel from one area of the city to another. Although most animals in Toronto reside within the ravine system, several animals also live in the city's urban environment and parks.
The Fauna of Saskatchewan include several diverse land and aquatic animal species. From the multiplicity of invertebrates and vertebrates, two have been chosen as symbols of Saskatchewan. Cenozoic vertebrate fossils reveal the geological evolution of the interior plains and its prehistoric biogeography. Today, Saskatchewan's ecosystems range from the sub-arctic tundra of the Canadian Shield in north Saskatchewan to aspen parkland, the Mid-Continental Canadian forests in the centre of the province and grassland prairie. Fauna inhabit areas unique to their own specific and varied breeding, foraging and nesting requirements. With a large land and water area, and small population density, the ecoregions of Saskatchewan provide important habitat for many animals, both endangered and not. Naturalists observing wildlife have enumerated shrinking and growing wildlife populations. They advocate programs and methods to preserve or re-introduce endangered species and identify programs of control for outbreaks of wildlife populations. A broad diversity of wildlife habitats are preserved as parks and reserves protecting the feeding and breeding grounds of protected and indigenous fauna of Saskatchewan.
The West Virginia State Wildlife Center is a zoological park in French Creek, West Virginia. Operated by the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources, the Wildlife Center displays many of West Virginia's wildlife, including both native and introduced species. A few of the animals at the Wildlife Center were once found naturally in West Virginia, but were extirpated by the early 1900s.
Shubenacadie Sam is a Canadian groundhog who lives at the Shubenacadie Wildlife Park in the town of Shubenacadie, Nova Scotia. Every February 2, on Groundhog Day, Sam's shadow is closely observed at 08:00 AST to make the traditional prediction whether there will be an early spring. Due to Nova Scotia's Atlantic Time Zone, Sam makes the first Groundhog Day prediction in North America.
Nova Scotia has two major national parks, Cape Breton Highlands National Park and Kejimkujik National Park. Nova Scotia is also home to three UNESCO World Heritage Sites.. The two cultural and one natural site are the town of Lunenberg, the Grand-Pré National Historic Site, and the Joggins fossil cliffs. Nova Scotia is also famous for its numerous historical sites, museums, and natural areas.
Hope for Wildlife (HFW) is a non-profit wildlife rehabilitation and education centre located on a farm in Seaforth, Nova Scotia, Canada. It was founded by Hope Swinimer in 1997 as The Eastern Shore Wildlife Rehabilitation and Rescue Centre. It got its current name in 2006. A television series, Hope for Wildlife, began documenting the centre's efforts in 2009.