Twenty Years of Conservation
Improvements through CAP
Beartooth Nature Center | CAP Year: 2002 |
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Beartooth Nature Center Entrace |
Beartooth Nature Center is the only public refuge in Montana to house native animals that cannot be returned to the wild due to injury or habituation to humans. They care for many different species of animals and birds, including wolves, mountain lions, black bears, bison, elk, antelope, bobcat, fox, coyote, eagles, hawks, owls and many more.
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Coyote |
In 2002, the Nature Center participated in CAP. Living Collections Assessor John Rupp conducted the CAP survey and provided the Nature Center with recommendations on how to achieve accreditation by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA). The staff at the Nature Center found the accreditation recommendations useful and was able to use the report to obtain funding for other projects at the center, primarily for the building of new habitats. In 2004, the Nature Center received a Conservation Project Support grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services for $22,480 to create three hoofed-animal habitats and to expand two existing habitats. These new and improved habitats will provide a safe and healthy environment for the Nature Center's collection of elk, deer, moose, antelope, and sheep. The new pens followed AZA guidelines, and the Nature Center worked with the Columbus Zoo in Ohio on designing the habitats.
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Mountain Lion |
In addition to the improvements that were made immediately after the CAP assessment, the staff integrated some of the CAP recommendations into the Nature Center’s long-range institutional plan. One of those recommendations was to increase the total amount of land used by the Nature Center in order to safely accommodate the number of animals housed there. A new, 20-acre parcel of land has just been purchased for this purpose, and the Nature Center will spend the next three to five years installing new habitats on the land. When the animals are safely housed, executive director Jeff Ewelt says he would like to add botanical and local cultural collections, in an effort to make the Beartooth Nature Center both a natural history and cultural destination for all who want to experience the "real" Montana.
Ewelt is confident that implementation of the CAP recommendations and the Beartooth Nature Center’s long-range plan will soon result in AZA accreditation. When asked what advice he would give to other institutions that have just finished a CAP assessment, Ewelt said, "Take advantage of your CAP. It’s a great service. It takes your museum and its collections in the right direction by putting the collection’s needs forward. CAP is a great ground-floor step towards future improvements in the collection and in the organization."
Thanks to Jeff Ewelt for his help with this article.
Photos courtesy of Beartooth Nature Center
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