Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center Express

Glad we went

We enjoyed seeing the animals at the conservation center. We had a beautiful sunny day and most of the animals were outside and moving around. The tour director/ van driver gave us lots of information, and stopped off a couple of times to view wildlife. It was an hours drive from Anchorage.

via Viator

Great Day Trip South of Anchorage Highlights!

Brooks was an excellent tour guide — so knowledgeable. This was a great way to explore south of Anchorage!

via Viator

Left Feeling a Bit Disappointed

I wasn't overly happy with this tour right from the word go. Our tour driver was friendly enough, but unfortunately not particularly engaging. He shared the bare minimum information and, although he made a few bonus stops along the way, he didn’t provide any history or point out interesting places or points of interest during the journey. It felt like there was a missed opportunity to make the journey itself part of the experience. The visit to the park itself was very rushed and I felt that we didn't get much time to explore the park at all. The actual wildlife park was quite sad and disappointing. Yes, you get to see the animals relatively close up, but they are behind wire fencing, and in some areas the fencing was so thick that you could barely see the animals, let alone take decent photographs. The beautiful wolf was particularly heartbreaking. He was in the distance and spent much of the time howling, seemingly because he was on his own. The brown bear/grizzly was also just pacing backwards and forwards along the fence line and looked incredibly sad. While the opportunity to see these animals up close was certainly memorable, I left feeling quite uncomfortable about their living conditions. For me, seeing wildlife should be an experience that leaves you feeling inspired and connected to nature, rather than wondering whether the animals are happy and well cared for. Overall, this was probably one of the more disappointing experiences of my trip.

Response from the operator: Thank you for sharing your feedback. We do want to clarify several points because your review appears to evaluate the experience based on expectations that were not part of the service you purchased. You purchased our Wildlife Express, which is transportation—not a narrated sightseeing tour. The description explains that the Wildlife Express provides transportation directly to the Wildlife Center, where guests have approximately one hour to visit the facility, followed by transportation back. The Wildlife Express does not advertise a narrated tour, scenic stops, or a guided sightseeing experience along the route. For that reason, we were surprised to see the service criticized because the driver did not provide extensive narration, history, or points of interest throughout the journey. Those services are simply not part of the Wildlife Express product. We do offer fully narrated tours, and there are other tour operators that offer narrated sightseeing experiences as well. Those services are priced accordingly because they include a different level of guiding, narration, sightseeing, and tour content. The price of the transportation reflects the service you purchased. You did not purchase one of our fully narrated tours; you purchased the Wildlife Express transportation service. It would not be reasonable to purchase a transportation service and then judge it against the standards of a completely different, fully narrated tour. In fact, your own review acknowledges that our driver made bonus stops and provided additional information along the way. We appreciate that you recognized this. Those were extras provided by the driver and were beyond what was advertised. In other words, the driver actually provided more than the basic Wildlife Express description promised, rather than less. You mentioned that the driver was not particularly engaging and that there was a missed opportunity to make the journey part of the experience. We understand that you personally may have preferred a narrated sightseeing experience, but that is not what you booked. You purchased transportation to the Wildlife Center, and the driver provided that transportation while also making additional stops and providing information that were not required as part of the service. Regarding the amount of time at the Wildlife Center, the approximately one-hour visit is part of the Wildlife Express description. This is a scheduled transportation service rather than an open-ended excursion, so the departure and return times are established in advance. The driver provided the time that was promised and departed as scheduled. We also want to address your comments about the Wildlife Center and the animals. The animals there are rescued wildlife, including orphaned and injured animals that require human care and rehabilitation. This is not simply a conventional zoo where animals are kept for display. The facility is specifically focused on the care, rehabilitation, and long-term well-being of rescued wildlife. The animals are provided substantial areas in which to move and live, considerably different from the small enclosures many people associate with traditional zoos. The bears, in particular, have an exceptionally large area in which to roam. The Wildlife Center has developed a strong reputation for its work rehabilitating and caring for rescued wildlife. Seeing an animal behind fencing, pacing, or howling does not, by itself, establish that the animal is unhappy, neglected, or improperly cared for. The fencing is necessary for the safety of both visitors and the animals, and individual animal behavior can have many explanations that a visitor cannot determine simply from observing it for a short period. We certainly respect that you may have personal feelings about wildlife facilities or may prefer seeing animals in the wild. However, your description of the animals as “sad” and your suggestion that their living conditions are necessarily inappropriate do not accurately reflect the purpose of the facility or the rehabilitation work being done there. It is also important to distinguish our company from the Wildlife Center. We provide transportation to the facility; we do not operate the Wildlife Center or make decisions regarding its animal care, enclosures, exhibits, or rehabilitation practices. Those concerns are more appropriately directed to the Wildlife Center itself. When we look at the service you actually purchased, the facts are fairly straightforward: the driver arrived on time, provided the transportation advertised, gave you the hour at the Wildlife Center that was promised, departed on time, and even provided additional stops and commentary that were not included in the description. So perhaps the review could more accurately have read: “The driver showed up on time, gave us the hour promised at the Wildlife Center, and left on time. The driver also talked about the area and made some bonus stops, which I thought was great. The tour description did not advertise narration or scenic stops, so I was pleasantly surprised by the additional effort. I understood when booking that I was purchasing a ride to the Wildlife Center, and that is what I received, along with some extras.” That would be a much more accurate description of the service that was actually purchased and received. We welcome legitimate and constructive feedback. However, we believe reviews should evaluate a service based on what was actually advertised, what was purchased, and what was delivered, rather than comparing it to services that were never included. Ultimately, you bought a ride, not a narrated tour—and the price reflected exactly that. Had you wanted a fully narrated sightseeing experience with extensive commentary and scenic stops, that is a different product and is available at a different price. In this case, the driver provided the transportation you purchased, delivered the scheduled Wildlife Center visit, departed on time, and went beyond the basic description by providing additional stops and information. We are sorry that the Wildlife Center itself did not meet your personal expectations, but that should not be confused with the transportation service our company advertised and provided.

via Viator

Extremely Overpriced

Extremely over priced! Priced at the entrance is $30. Phone number don’t work. No one contact you until you trying to cancel it. Then they show up 1 hour late at the place they told us to meet. I never write bad reviews. I really hope no one gets scammed again! They are very rude people as well!!

Response from the operator: We are disappointed by this review because several of the claims made are simply not accurate, and the actual circumstances are very different from what you have portrayed. First, your claim that our phone number “doesn’t work” is simply not true. Our company has a designated phone number that goes directly to our dedicated reservation center, something many tour companies do not have because their staff are out conducting tours and may not be available until their tour is finished. Our phone system is specifically designed to make sure customers have multiple ways to reach us. If our reservation agent does not answer, the call goes to dispatch, then to the owner. If those lines are not answered, the system is then answered by AI as another point of contact, and as a last resort it goes to our answering service where you can leave a message. There are multiple ways to get in touch with our company. More importantly, our call records show no attempted call from you prior to your arrival at the Wildlife Center. The Wildlife Center called us because you arrived there and they needed authorization from us to admit you. That was when we first became aware of the situation and first heard from you. You were scheduled to check in and board our tour at our Anchorage office—not at the Wildlife Center. Instead, you went to the Wildlife Center, approximately an hour away, and demanded to be admitted using your tour confirmation. The Wildlife Center contacted us to make sure your admission was authorized and paid for, and we authorized your entrance using our account. Then, after gaining entrance to the Wildlife Center through our authorization, you attempted to cancel your tour and receive a full refund. Let's be very clear about what that would have meant: you would have received the benefit of our authorization to enter the Wildlife Center while our company was left responsible for the entrance expense, and you would then have received your entire tour payment back. That is not a reasonable basis for a refund. You were also already outside our 24-hour cancellation policy. Yet after using our confirmation to gain admission, you attempted to cancel and then claimed you could not reach us. Again, our call records do not support that claim. You also attempted to take the cancellation issue through Viator, apparently hoping they would override the situation. However, Viator has its own cancellation policies and procedures, and they stood by their cancellation policy after reviewing the circumstances. They agreed that the cancellation was outside the applicable policy and did not issue the refund you were requesting. In other words, attempting to pressure the booking platform into overriding the policy did not change the facts. Despite all of this, we still offered a solution. We explained that you had missed our scheduled Anchorage departure and the scenic stops because you went to the wrong location, but our driver would meet you and continue the remainder of the tour with you. We made an effort to provide the service you paid for rather than simply leave you at the Wildlife Center. And regarding your claim that our tour is “extremely overpriced,” that is equally misleading. The tour price was $99, not $30, because you were not purchasing a $99 admission ticket to the Wildlife Center. The $30 entrance fee is only one component. The tour price also covers the driver, vehicle, fuel, insurance, operating expenses, reservation services, and the actual tour itself. Once those expenses are paid, very little remains for the company. If the only thing you wanted was admission to the Wildlife Center, then yes, the admission price is $30. But that is not what you booked. You booked a transportation and tour experience, not simply an admission ticket. Our pricing is competitive with comparable tour operators, and suggesting that the entire $99 price is somehow an inflated Wildlife Center entrance fee is simply inaccurate. We have no issue with a customer expressing disappointment. However, there is a significant difference between being unhappy with an experience and presenting an inaccurate version of events in an attempt to justify a refund. You arrived at the wrong location, missed the scheduled Anchorage departure and scenic stops, used our confirmation to gain admission to the Wildlife Center, and then attempted to cancel outside our cancellation policy while claiming you could not reach us—despite our records showing no prior attempt to contact us. Had we refunded you after authorizing your entrance, you would have received the benefit of our account at the Wildlife Center while our company absorbed that cost, in addition to refunding your tour. That would have left our company paying for services you received while you walked away with your full payment. We believe our staff went above and beyond by authorizing your entrance and then offering to have our driver meet you and continue the tour after you arrived at the wrong location. We also stand by our pricing and our cancellation policy. The facts were reviewed, the cancellation policy was applied, and the refund was not granted. A negative review does not change those facts. We stand by our records, our cancellation policy, our pricing, and the efforts our staff made to accommodate you.

via Viator

Wonderful tour!

Great tour! Our guide was excellent.

via Tripadvisor