This year’s Canada Day open house at the Northern Lights Wildlife Society was a record year for fundraising.
They were able to secure 10 per cent of their annual budget through donations to the centre just outside of smithers that rescue animals.
Founder Angelika Langen says over 18 hundred people came through the shelter.
“The aim is to give people a chance to see our operations, and for people to see why we do it,” says Langen.
Other than grants to upgrade some of the facilities, Canada Day and two other fundraisers are what keep the wildlife centre running.
“The next big fundraising project for the next few years is to build a new grizzly inclosure, so the current grizzly cage becomes an extension to the current black bear facility and allows us to take in more animals.”
This spring they rescued a record 22 black bear cubs. Langen says they expect to grow.
“Over the years we’ve started out with two or three bears a year. And now we’re up to 40 or 50 bears a year, and it’s probably going to go higher.”
Langen says 20 out of the 22 cubs rescued this spring were abandoned due to human causes.