This facility recently received a gift of $6 million, an astonishing amount that is actually more than the annual budget of the museum. There are approximately 200,000 annual visitors and that will likely increase when, in several years, construction begins on the addition of a permanent art gallery, an "immersive tree canopy experience" and a modernization of the Indigenous People of the Columbia Plateau exhibit.
Unfortunately, there will not be any new animal exhibits, but here is the species list from my August 5th, 2015, visit:
Species List (41 total): Bobcat, Raccoon, North American Porcupine, Bald Eagle, Golden Eagle, Barred Owl, Barn Owl, Western Burrowing Owl, Great Horned Owl, Western Diamondback Rattlesnake, Asian Vine Snake, Sonoran Mountain Kingsnake, Common Kingsnake, Long-Nosed Snake, Great Basin Gopher Snake, Common Garter Snake, Western Racer, Rubber Boa, Western Fence Lizard, Gila Monster, Northern Sagebrush Lizard, Chuckwalla, Desert Collared Lizard, Central Bearded Dragon, Western Skink, Desert Tortoise, Western Painted Turtle, Red-Eared Slider, Northern Leopard Frog, Western Toad, Long-Toed Salamander, Spanish Ribbed Newt, Rough-Skinned Newt, Emperor Scorpion, Giant Desert Hairy Scorpion, Western Black Widow Spider, Mexican Fireleg Tarantula, Vietnamese Centipede, Darkling Beetle, White Sturgeon, Great Basin Red-Band Trout and a few donkeys, horses and chickens in the homestead area.
Unfortunately, there will not be any new animal exhibits, but here is the species list from my August 5th, 2015, visit:
Species List (41 total): Bobcat, Raccoon, North American Porcupine, Bald Eagle, Golden Eagle, Barred Owl, Barn Owl, Western Burrowing Owl, Great Horned Owl, Western Diamondback Rattlesnake, Asian Vine Snake, Sonoran Mountain Kingsnake, Common Kingsnake, Long-Nosed Snake, Great Basin Gopher Snake, Common Garter Snake, Western Racer, Rubber Boa, Western Fence Lizard, Gila Monster, Northern Sagebrush Lizard, Chuckwalla, Desert Collared Lizard, Central Bearded Dragon, Western Skink, Desert Tortoise, Western Painted Turtle, Red-Eared Slider, Northern Leopard Frog, Western Toad, Long-Toed Salamander, Spanish Ribbed Newt, Rough-Skinned Newt, Emperor Scorpion, Giant Desert Hairy Scorpion, Western Black Widow Spider, Mexican Fireleg Tarantula, Vietnamese Centipede, Darkling Beetle, White Sturgeon, Great Basin Red-Band Trout and a few donkeys, horses and chickens in the homestead area.