In the minds of most, the term museum recalls enormous
barren halls with heavily framed works of art precisely
spaced along the walls or of dimly-lit rooms lined
with glass-enclosed cases of skeletons or artifacts.
The Arizona/Sonora Desert Museum possessed neither
of these stereotypes; instead, the museum collects
and condenses the desert world beyond the borders of
Tucson into a single location while preserving the
integrity of the landscape and the natural habitats
of the animals. For visitors from afar, as I am, or
natives of Arizona, the opportunity to experience the
life of the desert in a day trip accessible to all
ages and group sizes and in the company of docents
who wish to share their love of the environment and
its inhabitants culminates in an unforgettable experience.
The museum prides itself on the care and attention
it devotes to the comfort of the animals housed within
its boundaries, and the accolades are richly deserved.
Habitats are large and designed specifically for the
inhabitants: bighorn sheep have cliffs and boulders
to scramble over, cats have large shady overhangs to
lounge beneath and even the raccoon has trees and toys
with which to show off to his audience. Beyond this
concern for the animals' daily welfare, the Desert
Museum has a program of "retirement" for
the animals as they age; the bears, for example, have
been removed from exhibition after 22 years and will
reside in an open habitat the rest of their lives away
from the ogling eyes of tourists.
The UBRP trip to the Desert Museum was a wonderful
introduction to the life, which surrounds Tucson. With
a distant view of the mountains across an expanse of
open desert, the Arizona/Sonora Desert Museum presents
the beauty of the Sonoran desert in a personal and
interactive way, placing in public view the sacred
but often hidden lives, which rely on the seemingly
dry and lifeless desert.
Ashleigh Murphy, UBRPer in Dr. Roger Miesfeld's
Lab, Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics. Ashleigh
is spending the summer with us from Mercer University,
Macon, Georgia.
The museum prides itself on the care and attention
it devotes to the comfort of the animals housed within
its boundaries, and the accolades are richly deserved.
Habitats are large and designed specifically for the
inhabitants: bighorn sheep have cliffs and boulders
to scramble over, cats have large shady overhangs to
lounge beneath and even the raccoon has trees and toys
with which to show off to his audience. Beyond this
concern for the animals' daily welfare, the Desert
Museum has a program of "retirement" for
the animals as they age; the bears, for example, have
been removed from exhibition after 22 years and will
reside in an open habitat the rest of their lives away
from the ogling eyes of tourists.
The UBRP trip to the Desert Museum was a wonderful
introduction to the life, which surrounds Tucson. With
a distant view of the mountains across an expanse of
open desert, the Arizona/Sonora Desert Museum presents
the beauty of the Sonoran desert in a personal and
interactive way, placing in public view the sacred
but often hidden lives, which rely on the seemingly
dry and lifeless desert.
