THUNDER BAY -- As the Chippewa Wildlife Exhibit prepares for closure, the Friends of Chippewa Park are expressing concerns that more than one-third of the animals cannot be relocated.
Friends of Chippewa Park president Lorraine Lortie-Krawczuk said there are at least eight animals that will not be able to be moved and will have to stay at the park until the end of their natural lives.
“The bear and the wolf are too old to be sedated and transported across the country,” Lortie-Krawczuk said.
“All the hooved animals would need TB tests and they would have to be sedated twice to do that and they feel it would be too dangerous to do that to them.”
The cost savings that were put forward during council will be vastly reduced, so the Friends of Chippewa Park are hoping administration can find a way to keep the exhibit open for at least this season.
Lortie-Krawczuk said staff will need to attend the park every day to take care of the animals that cannot be transported.
“We are hoping that we can move forward with a plan to transform the wildlife exhibit into a sanctuary or a rehabilitation centre,” she said.
“We’ve made some initial contacts and we’ve tried to get in touch with some organizations to see what the feasibility of that would be.”
In a letter to city manager Norm Gale, the Friends of Chippewa Park pointed out no formal arrangements have been made with the animal transporter for the remaining animals, a process that will take at least one month to finalize.
Lortie-Krawczuk said if the city is looking at a May 1 closure, it’s not looking realistic at this point.
“We are continuing to try and see if there are opportunities for partnerships with other organizations to run the wildlife exhibit and see if that would even be an option for us,” she said.
Lortie-Krawczuk hopes residents will put some pressure on administration to keep the exhibit open for at least this season.
