Wonders of Wildlife National Museum and Aquarium Wonders of Wildlife Museum

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Crocodile

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The Wonders of Wildlife Museum is right next door to the original Bass Pro Shop in Springfield, Missouri. They are scheduled to have their grand re-opening in late 2010. I copied these two statements from the museum's website
Wonders of Wildlife

"The new museum will feature exhibits modeled after the great nocturnal exhibit at The Henry Doorly Zoo and the Rain Forest Exhibit at The Dallas World Aquarium. The new museum will also include some new surprises not found in any of the major aquariums."

"Some of the displays and features include a flooded rain forest exhibit, shark and ray touch tanks, sturgeon touch pool, a large living coral tank, a bird aviary and a nocturnal swamp just to name a few. The Museum will increase in size from 126,100 to more than 200,000 square feet with many new exhibits."
 
Wonders of Wildlife National Museum & Aquarium is the new name of what used to be a smaller facility in Springfield, Missouri. Located next to a Bass Pro Shop (mainly fishing merchandise) the aquarium portion closed down in 2007 and now 9 years later (after a staggering $100 million expansion and 1.3 million gallons of water) the aquarium is due to re-open.

There will be many cool elements to the new establishment: an 80-foot wide outdoor video screen, glass elevators, bats, otters, a big shark tank with at least 5 species of shark, taxidermy displays, etc.

Basic website (with little current information):

Wonders of Wildlife - Springfield, Missouri

An interesting article about the opening of the facility:

http://www.news-leader.com/story/ne...curved-wall-wow-aquarium-heres-what/85047966/

This next article states that the aquarium will have 1.3 million gallons, making it one of the larger American facilities in terms of water.

Wonders of Wildlife National Museum Shaped by Conservationist
 
Yeah I won't believe it until a month after they open the doors. This facility has been due to re-open for the last 5 years. Each time delayed by the owners intention to do something a bit different. It once was suppose to include outdoor displays for large American wildlife, a tropical rainforest aviary, and a manatee tank. The museum may still include these features.
 
Johnny Morris' Wonders of Wildlife National Museum & Aquarium opens on September 21st and the USA inches one step closer to having 150 public aquariums. The long-delayed project looks to be finally ready for its debut, and there is a 1-minute long introductory video on this link:

Homepage

Here are lots of images of the 50,000 sq. ft. Wildlife Gallery (mounted specimens):

Wildlife Galleries

The aquarium includes a 300,000 "Open Ocean" tank, a 60,000 sq. ft. entry hall and apparently 35,000 animals:

Aquarium
 
The new aquarium and its 1.5 million gallons of water is opening this week. It is obviously a major facility with 35,000 animals, a $40 entrance fee and it apparently takes 3 hours to tour both the aquarium and museum. I've visited more than 80 different aquariums in my life and I can count on one hand the number of them that took 3 hours or more to tour.

A series of photos and a video are included on this link:

After nine years in the making, the largest fish and wildlife exhibit in the world opens this week in Springfield, Mo.
 
Johnny Morris' Wonders of Wildlife National Museum and Aquarium is a 350,000-square-foot facility located in Springfield, Missouri. Species include American black bear, American beaver, lesser flamingo, gentoo penguin, American alligator, alligator gar, goliath grouper, Maori wrasse, and giant Pacific octopus, among other species.

On January 4th, the facility announced they have acquired a (1.0) Orinoco crocodile named Hugo from the Gladys Porter Zoo in Texas. On May 20th, it was announced that he has moved on exhibit into the Amazon Rainforest gallery.

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On January 26th, the facility announced they have acquired (0.0.8) loggerhead sea turtles that were found cold-stunned in the Northeast. They were later named Finley, Nathanael Greene, Fassnight, Mizumoto, Sequiota, Galloway, Fullbright, and Frisco.

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On April 10th, the facility announced they have opened a new exhibit beside the Aquarium lobby has opened to the public. Called 'The American Museum of Fly Fishing Gallery', it showcases artifacts and relics from fly fishing's past and is free to enter.

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On May 31st, the facility announced that their (0.1) giant Pacific octopus named Nyx has entered senescence and passed away.

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On June 3rd, it was reported that the facility won 'America's Best Aquarium' by USA Today. This is the 4th time it has won since opening in 2017.

Johnny Morris’ Wonders of Wildlife named America’s Best Aquarium again

On July 17th, the facility announced they have acquired a (1.0) giant Pacific octopus named Cecil.

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On August 3rd, the facility announced that a (1.0) American beaver named Bernard has passed away at age 13 due to lymphoma and old age.

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On September 1st, it was announced that the facility has achieved AZA accreditation for the first time in its history.

24 Facilities Granted Most Prestigious Zoological Accreditation by AZA Accreditation Commission
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On May 3rd, 2023, the aquarium announced that they released (0.0.10) loggerhead turtles back into the wild.

We said a happy farewell to all 10... - Wonders of Wildlife

On July 26th, 2023, the aquarium announced they transferred (0.0.7) bonnethead sharks to the Kansas City Zoo & Aquarium and Sea Life Kansas City in Missouri.

Missouri-Born Sharks Find New Homes Within Show-Me State | Eight bonnethead pups were born at Wonders of Wildlife in Springfield, Missouri, in August 2022. Now that the sharks are older, seven of them have new... | By Wonders of Wildlife | Facebook
 
On December 18th, the aquarium announced they acquired (2.0) American beavers (later named Birch and Bramble) from an unspecified facility in Minnesota which are now on exhibit.

Welcome Our New Beaver Brothers! | Day 3 of our 8 Days of Giveaways! Help us welcome our two new beaver brothers! We’re giving away 2 tickets to Wonders of Wildlife, a beaver plush –... | By Wonders of Wildlife | Facebook
Wonders of Wildlife

Smaggledagle said:
On July 17th, the facility announced they have acquired a (1.0) giant Pacific octopus named Cecil.

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On January 19th, 2024, the aquarium announced that Cecil passed away. Also on January 19th, the aquarium announced they acquired a (0.1) giant Pacific octopus named Octavia which is now on exhibit.

Wonders of Wildlife
 
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