Steve Kroschel, who delighted TV’s Johnny Carson with his baby wolverines in 1990, is Haines’ Dr. Doolittle, a lifelong expert with an endearing, personal rapport with rescued wildlife. Kroschel’s 60-acre park features 15 species of imprinted Alaska wildlife in an extremely close natural environment, including moose, wolves, brown bears, porcupines, wolverines and snowy owlets. The animals here have been rescued from the wild and have bonded with their keepers. (The antics of weasels and martens are a hit with families.) Feeding a banana to a moose is neat, but it’s the elfish Kroschel and his way with animals that make this experience a must.
