Temporary Exhibition » WoW – Wonders of Wildlife (rentable)

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WoW – Wonders of Wildlife

Thu, 15/10/2015 to Sun, 28/08/2016

Displayed at the Museum: 15/10/2015 > 28/08/2016

The exhibition that will take your breath away!

Whether running, jumping or hunting, movement in nature is often powerful, precise, and wild. In WoW – Wonders of Wildlife, a herd of ibexes leap from rock to rock; two rival males confront each other; a wolf chases wild boar; a tiger runs majestically and lions hunt fleeing zebras.

Through our amazing freeze frames you can get up close and personal with sights you might have previously only seen in nature documentaries on TV. These acrobatic installations- some displays involve whole groups of several specimens balance on a single paw or tail!- are more than just specimens; they are works of art made by taxidermists. Taxidermy is a unique field that requires the knowledge and precision of a scientist with creativity and an artist’s eye for detail.

In this exhibition, the spectacular panoramas highlight a range of topics including animal behaviour, biomechanics and species and landscape conservation, through videos, objects, and interactive activities set into detailed displays.

logo Parque de las Ciencias – Andalucia – Granada

An exhibition developed jointly by the Museum of Natural Sciences (Brussels) and Parque de las Ciencias (Granada)

Rent the exhibition

Audience: general public, families with children 8-14, nature film lovers, art lovers as well, school groups 8-14

Surface area: 500-600 to 800 sq. m.

Languages: the exhibition might be displayed in two, three or four languages

Rental fees and conditions: please contact us

CONTACT

Domingo Escutia Muñoz : domingo.escutia.ext@parqueciencias.com

Manuel Roca Rodriguez : roca@parqueciencias.com

Tiger

Tigers are the largest living members of the cat family. They run, jump, swim and can climb with ease, which is a real advantage when it comes to hunting. Tigers are solitary hunters who hide in long grass while they wait for their prey to approach. They then ambush their quarry from the side or behind. They kill it in a single bite using suffocation or by breaking its neck. Like the majority of predators, they generally attack young, old or weak animals. These are often hoofed mammals (known as ungulates, such as boar, ibexes or antelopes), or bears, but they have also been known to eat other animals including birds, crocodiles and tortoises.

Since 1986, tigers have been included on the IUCN (International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) Red List of Threatened Species. In 2010, there were only around 2,000 individuals left in the wild. Who is their main predator? Humans! Despite the tigers’ decline, humans continue to harm them through poaching and deforestation.

In the exhibition, you can admire three Bengal tigers (Panthera tigris tigris): one is posed in mid-run, and the two others as if they are hunting.

Wolf

Wolves (Canis lupus) are canines, like dogs– one of their subspecies (Canis lupus familiaris). They can be found in much of the northern hemisphere, but in Europe, they were demonised during the Middle Ages and have long been hunted by humans. As such, they disappeared from Belgium in the 19^th century– only the big bad wolf from children’s stories remains! Nowadays, thanks to conservation laws, wolves are expanding their territory and returning to Belgium’s neighbouring countries: France, Germany and the Netherlands.

In “WoW – Wonders of Wildlife”, you will discover a wolf “hunting” several wild boar. In reality, wolves hunt in packs; an individual wolf would be no match for a healthy male boar.

Boar

Wild boar (Sus scrofa) and its domesticated subspecies, the pig (Sus scrofa domesticus), are found throughout Eurasia, where they originate. However, they also live on all the other continents (except Antarctica) where they have been introduced. Such a large distribution across the globe has led to the development of many local subspecies that come in a range of sizes, colours and levels of hairiness.

In the exhibition, all of the boar on display are the Iberian variety (Sus scrofa baeticus) from Spain, including those being “hunted” by the tiger. For this scene to be scientifically accurate, the taxidermist who prepared these animals would have had to use Indian specimens instead.