Lindsay Wildlife Museum
Encyclopedia
Wildlife rehabilitation
Wildlife rehabilitation is the process of removing from the wild and caring for injured, orphaned, or sick wild animals. The goal of wildlife rehabilitation is to provide the food, housing and medical care of these animals, returning them to the wild after treatment.-Process:Rehabilitation begins...
center in Walnut Creek, California
Walnut Creek, California
Walnut Creek is an incorporated city located east of the city of Oakland. It lies in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. While not as large as neighboring Concord, Walnut Creek serves as the business and entertainment hub for the neighboring cities within central Contra Costa...
. The museum is one of the oldest wildlife rehab centers in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, and a popular family museum in the San Francisco East Bay Area. Founded in Walnut Creek in 1955, the museum’s programs “connect people with wildlife to inspire responsibility and respect for the world we share.” The museum houses hands-on discovery room for children, a pet education section with small domestic animals and changing natural history and art exhibits. The on-site wildlife rehabilitation center treats nearly 6,000 injured or orphaned wild animals each year.
History
Lindsay Wildlife Museum was founded in 1955 by Alexander Lindsay as the Diablo Junior Museum. It became the Alexander Lindsay Junior Museum in 1962 after Alexander Lindsay died at 44. In 1965 it moved to a water-pump house in Larkey Park in Walnut CreekWalnut Creek, California
Walnut Creek is an incorporated city located east of the city of Oakland. It lies in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. While not as large as neighboring Concord, Walnut Creek serves as the business and entertainment hub for the neighboring cities within central Contra Costa...
. In 1970 the museum started the first formal wildlife rehabilitation
Wildlife rehabilitation
Wildlife rehabilitation is the process of removing from the wild and caring for injured, orphaned, or sick wild animals. The goal of wildlife rehabilitation is to provide the food, housing and medical care of these animals, returning them to the wild after treatment.-Process:Rehabilitation begins...
program in the United States. In 1986 the City of Walnut Creek gave up operations and the museum became an independently operated not-for-profit organization. The next year "Junior" was dropped from the title, making it The Lindsay Museum. In 1993 the museum moved to a newly built 28000 square feet (2,601.3 m²) museum near the old pump house. Three years later the name was changed to Lindsay Wildlife Museum.