Al Oeming was a True Pioneer
in Western Canada.

A sailor in the Canadian Navy during World War II, Al’s story includes the foundation of Stampede Wrestling in Calgary in the late 1940s and the establishment of ‘Al Oeming’s Alberta Game Farm’ on August 1, 1959, just outside Sherwood Park, Alberta. Later to become ‘Polar Park’, this wildlife sanctuary helped spur him on to obtain a Masters in Zoology from the University of Alberta.

Over the years, it would become famous as a vast reservoir of replenishment for vanishing species due to its specialized breeding programs. Exotic animals such as white rhinoceros, silver back mountain gorillas, reticulated giraffe, nilghai, Przewalski horse, Peary’s caribou, Siberian tigers, snow leopards, Siberian lynx, Barahsinga deer, greater and lesser kudu, common eland and giant sable were but a few of the 166 species and 3,200 head of mammals and birds raised and fully acclimatized to year-round northern Alberta weather conditions.

Al’s love of Canadiana and his deep, abiding respect for nature, traditional craftsmanship and ingenuity is found today in the creation of our namesake beer from Polar Park Breweries.