It has now been six years since the arrival of the World of Wildlife exhibit, and unlike last year's fifth anniversary celebrations, the Sundre & District Historical Society marked this year with a low-key tea event.
However, society officials are nevertheless proud of the exhibit, which has grown to 170 wildlife mounts representing all continents except South America and Antarctica. The World of Wildlife exhibit is considered one of the top three individual collections of mounted wildlife exhibits in the world.
“We might have a tea gathering as we had a sizeable gathering last year for the fifth anniversary,” said Jack Nichol, president of the society. “We are already planning a big one for the 10th.”
It was six years ago on Nov. 18 when the Sundre & District Pioneer Village Museum acquired the wildlife collection from local legend Chester Mjolsness, who donated all exhibits and accompanying mural backdrops as well as a sizable portion of the cost to construct the 4,800-square foot south wing of the museum which houses the exhibit.
The animals and birds, which include an elephant, giraffe, hippopotamus, rhinoceros, polar bear and numerous others, were taken by Mjolsness during hunting expeditions of the past decades. At the age of 93 Mjolsness is now an enthusiastic lifetime board member at the society and still comes to the exhibit at least once every two weeks.
Nichol said although Mjolsness has more mounted wildlife exhibits to offer to the museum the society can no longer accept any more because its space is full and there are no future plans to expand the area that houses the entire exhibit.
“Chester was hoping to get us a cheetah but that may not happen. He is 93,” said Nichol, adding he is expecting the addition of a snowy owl soon from a local taxidermist. “They are hard to find.”
Nichol, who has been society president for the past two years, was just beginning his volunteer work for the organization when the Mjolsness collection officially arrived in 2006.
He said society members had great hopes that it would become popular with both locals and out-of-town visitors but they did not believe at the time it would become such a huge responsibility. The entire collection is considered “priceless” in terms of monetary value and it has to be maintained under strict temperature and humidity conditions to prevent deterioration.
However, the World of Wildlife exhibit has increasingly become a must-see attraction for tourists who come from all parts of the world. The museum has a map with pins on scores of countries to illustrate where visitors have come from to see the exhibit.
“The beauty of this is that there could be a day when a lot of these animals could be extinct or facing extinction but with proper maintenance kids in the future will be able to see what wildlife we did have,” said Nichol. “We are preserving this for history.”
The World of Wildlife exhibit is open during winter months at the museum Monday to Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The wintertime cost is $8 for adults and $6 for youth and seniors. There is free admission for children under six years old.
