Following an extensive refurbishment, the Yukon Beringia Interpretive Centre has re-opened in the capital city of Whitehorse, in Canada’s deep north-west.
This research and exhibition facility now features new fossils, murals, displays and interactive experiences, telling the story of the Yukon’s Ice Age history.
Beringia was a land bridge that once linked Alaska and Siberia, providing a route for humans and animals to migrate into North America tens of thousands of years ago.
Visitors to the Beringia Centre can step back in time and see exhibits like a 1.5-million-year-old caribou bone, the oldest in the Arctic; and meet Zhùr (meaning wolf), an ancient mummified wolf pup discovered in the permafrost in 2016 by Yukon miners working in the Klondike goldfields near Dawson City.
This tiny wolf pup is the best preserved and most complete mummy of an ancient wolf found to date. The scientific team worked with the Tr'ondëk Hwëch'in (First Nation band government in Dawson City) to highlight the cultural importance of wolves and other ice age mammals within their community.
The Yukon Horse display contains 26,000-year-old remains and visitors can also learn about the First People who crossed the Beringia land bridge. There are lifelike dioramas of a scimitar cat and giant short-faced bear, as well as a mummified arctic ground squirrel and Yukon caribou.
The Beringia Centre also showcases a replica of the famous Bluefish Caves archaeological site, where the jawbone of an ancient Yukon horse was discovered, believed to be around 24,000 years old.
Consisting of three caves, located near the Old Crow community, the first contained various animal bones that were dragged there by predators, as well as tools that indicate a human presence.
The centre also features films, guided tours, original works of art, and exhibits of discovered remains from throughout the Yukon, all contributing to a better understanding of the long lost sub-continent of Beringia.
The Yukon is a renowned leader for ice age and Beringia research.
Getting there: Air Canada offers daily direct flights to Vancouver from Sydney and Brisbane. Direct flights from Sydney to Vancouver are also available on Qantas. Internal flights to Whitehorse and Dawson City are available on Air North and Air Canada. For more information visit travelyukon.com
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