This museum looks really interesting. Do you know where they got their specimens from? I wouldn't think it would be easy to get saiga antelope and am curious where they got species like this. Expired zoo animals? Hunting trophies? Scientific expeditions? All of the above?
This scene is in the North American section and it depicts a western sequence (complete with animatronic cowboys). The museum is terrific but I have no idea where they get their specimens from.
An excerpt from my review on the 50 day, 50 zoo/aquarium road trip thread:
The Great Plains Zoo in South Dakota (the very first review of this seemingly never-ending road trip) had a terrific museum with taxidermy specimens of all shapes and sizes. (I’m not sure where the dead animals come from and I’m not sure that I want to know). Rolling Hills has a far superior museum that has an incredible 1,500 animals from just about everywhere in the world and it opened in 2005. For those that do not like to see dioramas of stuffed animals it would be a waste of time, but I find it fascinating to be able to tour a natural history museum as they can come alive with modern technology. There are animals judiciously placed into every nook and cranny, as on some dioramas there is a focus on a herd but then there are creatures peering over rocks, swinging from vines or hidden in crevices. There are at least 7 animatronic humans who startled my kids; rare specimens such as zebra duiker, giant forest hog and saiga antelope; large groupings such as 4 polar bears together or 9 musk oxen in one diorama; and with more than 1,500 animals there is 10 times the amount to be found here in comparison to Great Plains Zoo. The entire area is 64,000 sq. ft. (including the adjacent Conference Center) and there are 4 crashing waterfalls and about 25 galleries along with a terrific kiddie corner with a tree house and puppet theater. If we didn’t have to embark on a 6 hour drive to Denver, Colorado, then we would have stayed another hour as my children loved every minute of the visit inside the air-conditioned museum.
snowleopard, I think that you are giving this museum (and the attached zoo) some really good publicity with your review and photos. Most of us would probably never know it existed if you hadn't visited.
