The Beringia Centre – An Experience of Mammoth Proportions

One of the must see attractions in Whitehorse is the Yukon Beringia Interpretive Centre. The centre is a research and exhibition facility whose focus is Beringia; a landmass encompassing a large portion of what is now Siberia, Alaska and the Yukon. What is remarkable is that this area remained ice-free during the last ice age. It was a time when vast glaciers covered most of northern North America, locking up much of the world’s water as ice. During these “glacial periods”, global sea levels dropped as much as 100-150 metres, revealing the floor of the Bering Sea and creating a connection of land between Alaska and Siberia.

The Yukon Beringia Interpretive Centre

The Entrance Lobby

Unlike the rest of northern North America, the Beringia landscape remained free of ice. Glaciers did not form here because the climate was too dry, a result of the rain shadow of created by the mountain ranges. The lack of moisture also caused the boreal forests to disappear, turning the land into vast plains full of nutritious grasses, herbs and flowering plants – an ecosystem ideally suited for large herds of grazing animals including woolly mammoths, steppe bison, Yukon horses, musk ox and caribou. It was also home to their predators like the American lion, scimitar cats, giant short-faced bears, wolves and of course, the first humans to arrive in North America.