NEWPORT NEWS, Va. (WAVY) — The longtime open-air museum in Newport News is pulling back the curtain on how staff care for the hundreds of animals at the facility. Visitors will now be able to see things like surgeries, check-ups and diet prep for the hundreds animals in their care.
The Wild Care Center houses their hospital, ambassador animals and nutrition center. Ranging from routine dental cleanings to in-depth surgeries, visitors will be able to watch the procedures from the other side of a glass window. Staff will be there to explain the process and answer questions as animal care happens in front of museum goers.
“Zoo visitors get to step in and kind of see what it’s like in our shoes,” explained Senior Director of Living Exhibits, Lyn Heller. “We will narrate what’s happening, why we’re doing the procedure, why it’s good for the animal.”
Heller described the facility as a standard room you would see at your vet clinic. Another set of windows shows staff preparing food for the animals. While our cameras were there, we saw a routine check-up for a bearded dragon and food prep for a beaver.
The Virginia Living Museum broke ground on the 5,000 square foot facility about a year ago. The goal lies in transparency and education — giving visitors a literal window into animal wellness. With some ambassador animals taking residency at the Wild Care Center, other parts of the building will show off animal enrichment exercises.
“Lots of our animals have different behavioral needs, and so we make different items for those animals to cater to hose needs,” Britt Sorensen, Animal Training and Enrichment Coordinator.
Museum leaders said this type of facility is gradually becoming more common across the country. They hope this educates people looking to enter the field, and potentially inspire the veterinarians of tomorrow.
“We want to bring you into what we do,” Heller said. “It has always been this kind of big mystery, what zoos do, how they care for their animals, and that is not how it should be. We want to bring you in to what it takes to care for these guys, and why it’s so important, why we are here, why we do what we do, why we are so passionate about it.”
The Wild Care Center has its ribbon cutting at 5 p.m. on Thursday. It opens to the public on Sunday.