Lindsay Wildlife Experience

History

Alexander Lindsay established the Lindsay Wildlife Museum as the Diablo Junior Museum in 1955. After Alexander Lindsay died at the age of 44 in 1962, it was renamed the Alexander Lindsay Jr Museum. It relocated to a water-pump house in Walnut Creek's Larkey Park in 1965. The museum established the first formal wildlife rehabilitation program in the United States in 1970. The City of Walnut Creek ceased operations in 1986, and the museum became an independent not-for-profit organization. The term "Junior" was dropped from the title the following year, making it the Lindsay Museum. The museum relocated to a newly constructed 28,000-square-foot (2,600 m2) museum near the old pump house in 1993. Lindsay Wildlife Museum was renamed three years later. The museum has added a number of major new exhibits in recent years. Visitors to Wildlife Hospital Behind the Scenes can observe a live veterinary procedure at the hospital through a large, one-way window. Visitors to Raptors can virtually fly over Mount Diablo and measure their arm span against the wingspans of raptors. Visitors to Hive Alive!, Hive to HoneyHoney Bees, and Beekeepers at Work can observe thousands of live bees and their queens, as well as learn about the various jobs that bees perform. The Burrow, a new exhibit at the museum that opened in the fall of 2013, allows visitors to go "underground" to discover the world of wildlife beneath their feet.

 

Lindsay Wildlife Rehabilitation Hospital 

Every year, more than 5,000 California native wild animal patients are treated at the museum's wildlife rehabilitation hospital. The hospital is a pioneer in wildlife rehabilitation, and many protocols that are now used throughout the country were developed here. Staff and volunteers at the hospital treat animals that have been poisoned, hit by cars, fallen from trees during trimming, and been injured by other, often human-related activities. They also provide orphaned children with care both on-site and in the homes of specially trained volunteers. An animal is released back into the wild after being treated. If it cannot be safely released, it may become a resident "animal ambassador" at the museum. As many animals brought to the hospital are cat-caught, the museum strongly encourages visitors to keep their cats indoors.

 

Animal ambassadors

Lindsay Wildlife Experience specializes in the care of animals that cannot be released back into the wild. Almost all of the 70 animals that live at Lindsay Wildlife have a physical, psychological, or behavioral issue that would make them unable to survive in the wild. All of the animals at Lindsay Wildlife Experience serve as animal ambassadors, educating visitors about conservation and natural history. Some animals are on display to the general public, while others live off-site and are brought out for presentations, classes, tours, and private animal encounters.

 

Lindsay Wildlife Store

Lindsay Wildlife Experience Gift Shop sells a variety of items for both children and adults that are related to native California wildlife and the environment. We have everything from children's books to excellent adult reference books, science-based toys, craft items, and a popular selection of plush and puppet animals from this region. When you shop at the Lindsay store, you are helping to support the life-saving and educational work that Lindsay does.