Late last year the Wonders of Wildlife Museum and Aquarium finally opened to the public after 10 years of development. This facility, built on the side of the flagship Big Bass Pro Shops in Springfield Missouri, had been heavily advertised yet remained a mystery as to what was inside which intrigued me to go see it for myself. After my visit one word highlights how I feel. "Wow!" The Facility: The facility starts in a museum (which can be skipped but I highly advise not to do so because it is a great museum!). The goal of the museum is to inspire a conservation mindset into anyone walking through, and to my surprise it excelled in doing this and wasn't just taxidermy! You begin up an escalator within a taxidermy stampede of bison, where you are taken to the prehistory/Native American gallery. This gallery emphasizes the close connection Native Americans had to nature and how they lived sustainably with it. You are then taken to a hallway of troubling images of bison being wiped out to which you enter the cabin of Teddy Roosevelt where it highlights what he did for conserving the environment. You then go down an art gallery exhibiting paintings of the Lewis and Clark expedition. After which you get to the taxidermy, where each display highlights a scene from each of the large National Parks in the United States. Eventually the theme becomes polar and you come across the first live animals! Gentoo penguins are displayed in an average but well displayed exhibit here. After which you proceed through more stunning displays of taxidermy, then by a display of strange deer antlers, then you find yourself in a room called "Goat mountain" full of taxidermy goats and ibex of many different species. After that is an expansive hallway of African species which winds to the end, with an add in of big cat species of the world towards the end. Now you reach the aquarium. As you make your way down to ground level on large flowing platforms and pass Ernest Hemingway's dream boat, you are greeted by a stunning column tank full of vibrant reef fish. The entrance to the aquarium is inside this gateway where you find yourself completely surrounded by the tank. Species inside include, leopard whipray, zebra shark, and sandbar shark. Directly ahead you can see the impressive sardine tank with sardines, a bonnethead shark, and a black nosed shark. You then round the corner to a large atrium with another column tank housing many wrasse species, a life-size fishing boat and mural, and a fishing hall of fame. This area least interested me because frankly I couldn't care less about fishing. After taking an escalator you get a second level view of both column and walk around a platform to enter the next large atrium and "full aquarium" part of the aquarium. A large cylindrical tank surrounded by a large ray touch tank on the floor below is an awe inspiring sight to see here. Around it are many large tanks of varying fish species. You quickly work your way around to the largest portion of the aquarium: the swamp. This sprawling nocturnal area includes: a bridge over an alligator pit, a shed with bald eagles, African Spiny Mouse, American crow, barred owl, and a barn owl, an otter exhibit, two large freshwater tanks, and several small exhibits for native reptiles. From there you enter a coastal gallery with a large tank along the wall with several coastal species of fish and a green sea turtle. Following are several small tanks for coastal fish, and a stylish bait shack overlooking a large shark tank with sand tiger sharks and brown sharks. Following is the amazon gallery with many medium sized enclosures for species such as green iguana, emerald tree boa, amazon tree boa, green anaconda, arrau turtle, red bellied piranha. Mixed in this are many fish I have only seen at Shedd or never seen before which I assume to be rare. There is also a large amazonian tank and two cages for curl crested and green aracari. Following you descend into a lower level by a reticulated python exhibit and an escalator down to where you see underwater viewing to several of the previously seen tanks such as the shark tank and one of the freshwater tanks from the swamp. Below are also more small and large freshwater and saltwater tanks. You eventually make your way to an underwater tunnel through the other large freshwater swamp tank home to pangasius, some large asian ray, wels catfish, and arapaima. At the end of the tunnel you emerge to a large cave with bat exhibits and a catfish sinkhole, followed by a spacious beaver exhibit and many alligator exhibits along with more native reptiles and amphibians. What lied next most surprised me as it was a black bear exhibit with indoor and outdoor viewing! Following that is more small exhibits for reptiles and a lesser flamingo exhibit. Through there is the bottom level to the ray touch tank and the exit. Also to note, in the restaurant outside the aquarium a seemingly empty aquatic cylinder protrudes from the ceiling which to my delight had penguins in it! This was an extension to the penguin exhibit above. After walking out I was mentally and physically exhausted. I have never felt this after leaving an aquarium, because it wasn't just an aquarium, it was a journey. The Good: Anyone who's been to a Bass Pro Shop knows they love to go all out, and after seeing the Wonders of Wildlife myself, all out is an understatement. Not one region in the museum or aquarium was dull or boring, all of it was outstanding in design, beauty, or exhibition. The facility really felt 10 years in the making. What most surprised me was the sheer size of the aquarium section. I was expecting an impressive but small aquarium only consisting of what was advertised, but that was only the tip of the iceberg. The path winds back and forth across many levels throughout various large sections which takes at least 3-4 hours to go through. Around each corner waits a surprise, whether that be a massive column fish tank, a sprawling indoor swamp, or even a bear exhibit! I was pleasantly surprised by the variety of the species on exhibit as well, consisting of surprising species for an aquarium built by a Bass Pro Shop such as black bears, lesser flamingos, and beavers. Many of the fish on exhibit I had never seen before and could not identify (More on that later). I can only assume that my lack of recognition or only recognizing them from one large aquarium means the species of fish on exhibit are high quality. One species that was on exhibit I did recognize was a wels catfish which I have not heard of being on exhibit in a North American facility before. The originality and uniqueness of the displays really sets this place out from most other aquariums in the USA, this very well may be the best designed aquarium in America. The Bad: The first problem is a minor annoyance, it's way too dark. The lighting is odd and dim throughout the aquarium and museum, but this is their design choice which in many ways compliments the facility. It was just annoying to me who couldn't take pictures in the dark, but I will not let this discredit the facility because it is stunning. The real problem is the signage. In the past I have criticized aquariums for using slow cycling monitor screens, but this is much worse. There really is no signage. In some of the tanks there are a few touch screens which work well but only display some of the species, never more than 6. On a handful of the small exhibits are generic labels such as "urchins" "octopus" or "spider crabs". And on a select few of the reptile terrariums is full signage as to what's inside. The rest? No sign. This is a blaring problem in a facility that's packed with fish some of which I assume to be quite rare. The fish tanks this isn't as much as a problem but the reptiles it proved to be a major difficulty. Some of the terrariums were seemingly empty due to no sign. I would ask myself "What am I looking for?" "Is it in here?" "What is that?" "Did I miss anything?". Many species lacking a sign were species which should never go unsigned in a zoological facility. Here is a brief list of unsigned species: Barred owl, barn owl, American Crow (luckily I heard him call to make sure it wasn't a fish crow), lesser flamingo, american alligator, alligator snapping turtle, Western Hognose, unknown corn snake, unknown collared lizard, unknown map turtle, reticulated python, curl crested aracari, wels catfish, brown shark, bonnethead shark, blacknose shark, arrau turtle, red footed tortoise, green iguana, emerald boa, amazon tree boa, pike, white pelican, black crowned night heron, and at least two species of sturgeon. Those were just some of the species I could identify or at least somewhat identify. I would say at least 85-90% of species on exhibit are unsigned. The reason this bothers me is it opens up the questions: Do they really care about education or conservation? Are the animals only here to look cool? Every other aspect about this facility suggests otherwise which is why it eludes me why this is such a problem here. Are there no signs in order to not distract the beauty? Maybe they are still building signs? The Verdict: I would rank this aquarium among the top 5 Iv'e been to (among Georgia, Monterrey bay, Tennessee, and Shedd aquariums) if it weren't for the sign problem. Still amazing in every other aspect, it falls in my top 10 for sure. The facility is so impressive that I would give it a 10/10 if it weren't for the lack of signage, which makes me want to put it at an 8/10. I'm leaving it at a 9/10 because the facility is just so impressive I can't rank it below that. I will over the next week upload images of the museum and aquarium, along with many species that need identification. No photograph can capture the magnitude and beauty of this place so I highly recommend anyone in the area to see it.
Considering how this place is made by a hunting supply distributor, I believe that this place can give a message about sustainable hunting practices (maybe it already does). But I fear that this place might get attacked by the hsus and other anti-hunting organizations.
I really want to go to this aquarium. The Signage is frustrating, and its a shame, because the exhibits and the wide variety of the species looks really good! I feel like if they just added signage for more of the species here, It would be close to perfect. Anyhow, I still would really like to go to this aquarium, it seems amazing and of the videos I've seen of the place makes me want to visit even more. Great review!
After five years in operation, Wonders of Wildlife has received AZA accreditation. I hope to visit in early 2023.
Would you by any chance have any sources for that and also for Africa Safari Wildlife Park losing their accreditation? I'm having trouble finding the info and AZA website still says the safari is accredited through 2027.
24 Facilities Granted Most Prestigious Zoological Accreditation by AZA Accreditation Commission Bailey Matthews National Shell Museum and Rivendale Wildlife Sanctuary are other new members. Squam Lake Natural Science Center also lost accreditation.
