General Info and Bookings
- General inquiries
- Bus Tour bookings
867-456-7300 (Front Reception Cabin)
info@yukonwildlife.ca
For special bookings, rentals, events, VIP tours, and commercial film & photography please contact:
Admin Office
867-456-7400
info@yukonwildlife.ca
Programming and Education
- Nature Camps
- School Programs
- Children’s programming
- Outreach
Animal Care and Wildlife Rehabilitation
- Injured Wildlife? Go here first.
- Our staff are often out caring for our animals. Please leave a message.
Accounts
- Accounts Payable
- Bookkeeping
- Billing
Please contact our bookkeeper:
Sheila Downey
1-866-975-3033
accounts@yukonwildlife.ca
Connect With Our Team
Jake Paleczny
He/Him - Executive Director/ CEO
Jake Paleczny is passionate about interpretation and education. He gained his interpretative expertise from a decade of work in Ontario’s provincial parks in addition to a Masters in Museum Studies from the University of Toronto. His interests also extend into the artistic realm, with a Bachelor of Music from the University of Western Ontario and extensive experience in galleries and museums.
Lindsay Caskenette
Manager Visitor Services
Lindsay joined the Wildlife Preserve team March 2014. Originally from Ontario, she came to the Yukon in search of new adventures and new career challenges. Lindsay holds a degree in Environmental Studies with honours from Wilfrid Laurier University and brings with her a strong passion for sharing what nature, animals, and the environment can teach us.
Jan Möller
He/Him - Animal Care Manager
Jan joined the team August 2020. After falling in love with the Yukon’s wilderness during a working holiday year in 2012, he went back to his home country Germany to get a degree as a poultry specialist. In 2018, his knowledge and passion for working with animals led him back to the Yukon where he worked at local farms and gained experience working with horses, cows and sheep. Jan is passionate about caring for the animals – big and small and especially enjoys being a part of the journey for those animals that come through the Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre be released back into the wild.
You can now find Jan working in this Animal Care Manager role (since Spring 2024). Outside of work, he spends his time with his family, his partner and their two kids.
Ensio Lera
He/Him - Outdoor Operations Coordinator
Ensio joined the team at the preserve in 2019, and worked there for 2 years before leaving to pursue his commercial pilots license. He is happy to be back in 2022 as an Outdoor Operations Assistant.
Ensio was born in raised in Whitehorse and was home-schooled in Mt. Lorne. As a teena,ger he had a strong interest in wilderness, photography, and obtaining his private pilots license. Some of his hobbies include computers, wood working, electrical, mechanics as well as film photography. He loves fixing things that are broken!
He spent a lot of time growing up with his family in the outdoors. They would often go on kayaking and canoeing trips, as well as hunting trips. Ensio also spent a lot of time caring for farm animals such as chickens and ducks. Nowadays, Ensio is focusing on his wildlife photography, commercial pilot’s license, and settling in to his new home with his partner.
Randy Hallock
He/Him - Manager of Outdoor Operations
Randy Hallock was raised in a small farming community in Alberta, where he gathered the experience that makes him so valuable to the preserve. Our longest serving staff member, he answered the call of the Preserve more than 30 years ago. Since then, he has been dedicated to the smooth operation of the Preserve and the well-being of the animals that call it home. Randy's long term experience and dedication make him the backbone of the Preserve's operations.
Neil Tracey
He/Him - Manager Education and Programming
Neil is an interpreter and biologist who has worked in wildlife rehabilitation, interpretation, and education. He joined the team in early 2023 from Vancouver. In his spare time he teaches first aid and grows far more plants than he has space for at home.
Brittney Forsythe
She/Her - Visitor Services Coordinator
Brittney joined the Wildlife preserve in the summer of 2023. Growing up on Northern Vancouver Island, surrounded by the temperate rainforest, nature and animals have always been a part of her life. It exploded into a passion, when she started her dog walking business in 2017 and she began spending 6-7 days a week in the forest, rain or shine! This sparked an even deeper appreciation for the cyclical nature of the land and how all of the plants & animals work together symbiotically. She is forever ‘that girl’ on the hike, pointing out different rocks and plants, explaining their origin or what they could be used for medicinally. Brittney and her dog Cedar relocated to the Yukon to help care for 31 sled dogs. She is so excited to expand her local knowledge as a part of the Preserve team.
Michael Salilig
He/Him - Senior Wildlife Care and Rehabilitation Technician
Rebecca Carter
She/Her - Senior Wildlife Interpreter
Rebecca joined the Wildlife Preserve in the summer of 2020 after moving from Manitoba to the beautiful and wild Yukon. Rebecca earned a degree in Biology with honours from the University of Winnipeg studying behaviour in mule deer (one of her top 20 favourite animals.. it’s hard to choose!). She loves connecting with others through nature and sharing stories and knowledge about the animals at the preserve with visitors.
Doug Caldwell
He/Him - Wildlife Interpreter
Doug is one of the Interpretive Wildlife Guides here at the Preserve. Doug has been an incredible member of this team since Spring 2017. He’s an avid angler and hunter he has a broad knowledge of Yukon’s wilderness and the creatures that live here. With a focus on the young visitors to the Preserve, Doug takes the extra time to help our guests to better appreciate the many wonders of the animal kingdom here in the Yukon.
Pete Neilson
He/Him - Wildlife Interpreter
‘Sir’ Pete grew up in suburban Southern Ontario north of Toronto. In the late 80’s, he followed the lure of London and Service to the Yukon. ‘Sir’ Pete has lived off grid in the Yukon all along from a wall tent and later a tepee in his earlier years and now a small cabin near Twin lakes. He guided wilderness canoe trips many years in the 90’s and early 2000’s and got his first sled dog in ’91; currently he has 15 dogs for recreational mushing. ‘Sir’ Pete enjoys being at home or out with his dogs as much as he can. Pete has been a dedicated long standing Preserve team member since January 2015 – someone’s got to work to feed those dogs!
Colleen Beck
She/Her They/Them - Wildlife Educator
Colleen recently completed their Honours Bachelor’s of Science, with Specialization in Biology from Nipissing University. Growing up traveling and spending a lot of time outdoors, they gained a great passion for nature. She has always wanted to work outside, helping to conserve our natural wonders. Her favorite animal at the preserve is the mountain goat. During their off days, you can often find Colleen whitewater kayaking, hiking, mountain biking or working away on an art project!
Alexis Lough
She/Her - Educator
Alexis has always had a passion for animal welfare and has worked with many species over the years as a Registered Veterinary Technician. Some include the ‘Big 5’ in South Africa, harbour seals in Vancouver, as well as our canine and feline friends in various ICU/Neurology departments. Most recently, she had the experience of delivering foals in Australia as a Foaling Attendant.
Alexis is excited to be in the Yukon and learn about all the wonderful native species in the area. In her spare time she’s looking forward to hiking, camping, and swimming, and is almost always planning her next trip.
Andrew Penley
He/Him - Wildlife Interpreter
Andrew is originally from a small town south of Ottawa, Ontario. He has had a love for all animals since he could walk, except chickens! Andrew grew up on a farm with horses, chickens ( how he gained a dislike for them) cats and dogs. He moved up to the Yukon with his fiancée at the start of November 2021 to help his family with their property in the beautiful Fox Lake area! His work as a Wildlife Interpreter combines two of his favorite things, talking to new people and hanging out with animals. He hopes to be working for the YWP for a long time to come like many of the other Interpreters and other management crew!
Avery Elias
She/Her - Wildlife Interpreter
Avery’s journey to the Yukon Wildlife Preserve began during a vacation in August 2024, when she was living in Vancouver and looking for a quieter, wilder life. Having spent the past two summers on farms in Oregon and the Vancouver area, Avery was drawn to the wild beauty and close-knit community of the Yukon. Now, she’s excited to join the team as a wildlife interpreter. Outside the preserve, Avery works as an illustrator, animator, painter, and digital designer, collaborating with local businesses and pursuing her own creative projects.
Danial Kosarifar
Wildlife Interpreter
Danial joined the Wildlife Preserve in the winter of 2024 as he wanted to learn more about the Yukon Wildlife. In his past life he was a software engineer, but with the start of Covid-19 and the world shutting down, he decided to dedicate more time to the nature, immersing himself in it and understand it better.
Melissa Mark
She/Her - Animal Care Technician
Melissa is happy to be back at the Yukon Wildlife Preserve for a second summer season. She was born and raised in the Yukon but has spent the last chunk of her life in B.C. living on a sailboat with her partner Eric an plan to go on a big trip one day. She just finished a diploma program studying Fish, Wildlife, and Recreation at the British Columbia Institute of Technology. She is looking forward to the new experiences this summer and grateful to be back and part of the animal care team.
Thanks for your years of dedication!
Dr. Maria Hallock
2001- 2024 Veterinarian & Animal Curator
Dr. Maria Hallock was born in Russia where she volunteered at the local zoo as a child. In 1995 she graduated as Doctor of Veterinary Medicine with honours from the University of Novosibirsk in Russia. Maria gained veterinary experience while working in zoos in Russia, Switzerland and Austria, before joining the Preserve team in 2001. Maria dedicated 23 years to the Preserve and the animals.
Maureen Peterson
2013 - 2023 Wildlife Interpreter
Happy Retirement (actually) Maureen! We have been so grateful to have you on the team for 10 years!
Maureen is originally from North Vancouver, BC, where she lived for the first 20 years of her life. In grade 5 she did a project about the Yukon, which is when she decided to go there. It was at age 20, and the day after she was married, that she finally moved North. The Yukon was everything the 10 year old Maureen thought it would be and she has never had any desire to move anywhere else. Maureen has been a dedicated long-term member of the team since November 2013.
Johanne Maisonneuve
2014 - 2023 Wildlife Interpreter
Johanne joined the Wildlife Preserve in the Fall of 2014 as a wildlife Interpreter in the winter. In the summer she is a visitor attendant at Kluane National Park and Reserve. Passionate about the outdoors, she has spent a lot of her time learning about the ways of the land throughout the Yukon in the 40 years + she has lived in the territory. A cabin dweller at heart, she now enjoys sharing her knowledge and experience with visitors from all over the world who come to visit the Wildlife Preserve.