We had a Saskatoon Wildlife Festival visit this afternoon for their first day at Prairieland. Saskatoon Wildlife Festival started today and we couldn’t wait to see all of the animals. Wallabies, sloths, snakes, porcupines and more! This festival was brought to us by the YYC Nature Centre, Cobb’s Adventure Park, & Cobb’s Exotic Animal Rescue. They have made an amazing experience for the little ones. They’ve even included educational programming about Cold Blooded Creatures and Mammals and Birds. My favourite part was programming and learning about animals. The speakers were very good – I know because my son listened to them more than he ever listens to me. They had the audience laughing at jokes and participating in the program. We went last year and saw both the reptiles and mammal programs. This year, we only watched the Mammal program. (When they come back, we’ll watch both again!)
We knew what to expect from last year but they had a few changes this year. Different animals, a bit of a different setup and a few photo ops. It still had a lot of information and learning opportunities and fantastic wildlife experts with the animals.
I’ve trained my son well and he loves getting these photos taken. Photo by Erin McCrea.
My son loved the wildlife behind the glass as well. We walked through every exhibit (sometimes twice) and I told him the names of everything and a little bit about each one. He definitely had his favourites. The spiders and snakes were number one on his list. He even left with a stuffed spider at the end.
Making new friends. Photo by Erin McCrea.
There was one thing I noticed in every single section we went to and that was how much the people with the animals loved them. Each handler treated the animals like they were loved pets.
He had to pet them all. Photo by Erin McCrea.
They had extra photo ops with certain wildlife (for an extra charge.) It helps them raise money for the animals. We didn’t do any this year but enjoyed all the opportunities to see them and pet other animals.
Meeting the Sugar Gliders. Photo by Erin McCrea.
I had to hold one as well! Photo by Erin McCrea.
The Sugar Gliders are really cool. They hang out with us for a bit and then leap back to the handler so they can feel safe.
Sloth Sloth Sloth! Photo by Erin McCrea.
What was I looking forward to the most? The sloth! We were introduced at the show (from afar) and they were incredibly fun to watch. You can also get a Sloth Experience but I was happy to just be in its presence.
I was WAY more excited! Photo by Erin McCrea.
We had a lot of fun at the Saskatoon Wildlife Festival. We enjoyed meeting the animals. My son had a lot of fun petting the animals but he loved learning about the animals the most. He was happy to give his new friends one quick pet and then move on to learn about something else. If you have the chance to go this weekend, it’s a fun time!
Saskatoon Wildlife Festival Visit
When: January 27-29, 2023
Where: Hall E West WTC Saskatoon at Prairieland Park.
Address: 503 Ruth Street West
Website: www.tickettailor.com/events/cobbsadventurepark
