After a successful campaign to buy a $45,000 x-ray machine, the BC Wildlife Park will now turn its attention to other fundraising initiatives.

Animal Care Supervisor Tracy Reynolds says it has a number of items on its wish list. “For this year, the big fundraising campaign we have is for a hoof-stock quarantine. We need a large pen that is separate from our collection, like separate from out in the park where people see, so that we can bring in new animals.”

Reynolds says they will be looking for some grants to help pay for that and then it will know how much money it will need to collect. “This is essential for us to be able to bring in new large hoof-stock, like a new bison for instance. We would have to the quarantine it for at least 30 days and that keeps the rest of our population safe. We don’t want to be introducing any new diseases. So that’s something we absolutely require to get new animals here at the park.”

Reynolds says that project is likely to cost upwards of $25,000. “And we need to have some handling equipment in there so we are able to safely move animals in and out of the pen. Like a large hoof-stock chute that loads them in and out of a trailer so we can then move them. And then we want to have another building in there and that will be another $40,000 perhaps.

Reynolds says other items it will be looking to acquire in the future include a doppler, an ultrasound machine and scales to be able to properly weigh different sized animals.