History
1965-2004
1967: Danny Nowlan created the Yukon Game Farm.
1967 – 2000: Danny and Uli Nowlan began acquiring and breeding northern herbivores. They also bred falcons and raised orphan animals. Researchers, biologists, photographers and filmmakers from around the world were drawn to this unique facility.
1989: The Game Farm was renamed and rebranded to the Yukon Wildlife Preserve by Danny and Uli. Still run as a privately owned facility, Danny envisioned the possibilities and future of the facility. He saw the Yukon becoming a tourist destination and the Preserve being a place for people to have unparalleled wildlife viewing and valuable educational experiences. This name change was a move to support partnership with Westours and visitation to the facility by Americans. The original name suggested the facility was a hunting farm, far from the case, so the Nowlans changed the name and Danny’s daughter, Peregrine created the first logo.
2001: The Nowlans decided to retire and put the facility up for sale.
2002: Recognizing the education and research potential of the Farm, community members advocated to make the Game Farm a public facility.
2004-2009
“I remember flying over this area almost 35 years ago when I was working for forestry and thinking…that’s it. I was looking for a place where I could raise falcons, wild sheep and other animals… and there it was. I was really excited. It had water, cliffs, grasslands, everything all in one location.”
– Danny Nowlan, Interviewed in 2004
April 1, 2004: The Yukon Government purchased the Farm. The not-for-profit Yukon Wildlife Preserve Operating Society (YWPOS) was established and began working in partnership with Yukon Government to operate the Preserve.
June 12, 2004: The Yukon Wildlife Preserve opened its doors. More than 3,200 visitors toured the Preserve during the first summer.
June 2005: The Yukon Wildlife Preserve Operating Society obtained charitable status. An outdoor learning program for grade four students was launched.
Winter 2007: The visitor reception cabin was winterized, allowing winter tours and programming.
May 2008: A series of high school environmental monitoring programs was introduced.
June 2009: The Yukon Wildlife Preserve celebrated its fifth anniversary. In five short years, our board, staff, volunteers and over 700 supportive members are proud of achieving high standards of animal care, running popular educational programs and welcoming over 8,000 of visitors annually.
September 2009: The Yukon Government and the YWPOS signed a multi-year funding agreement that provided stable operational funding for Preserve.
***More coming soon***
Some of the original animals were actually captured from the wild. This sheep capture happened in 1965. Danny is second from the right. Photo courtesy of Uli Nowlan.
Original logo created by Peregrine Nowlan in 1989 when the name change occured from Yukon Game Farm. Later when the facility was sold and run as a non-profit the name remained and the logo updated to its current version.
Mountain goats arrived in 1973. Picture here with Uli Nowlan. Photo courtesy of Uli Nowlan.
Caribou and current Operations Manager, Randy Hallock arrived in 1989. Photo courtesy of Uli Nowlan.
Box 20191
Whitehorse, Yukon
Y1A 7A2
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