The Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum has opened "Rainforest Adventure," a multisensory expedition that will introduce adults and children to tropical rainforests from around the world.
The exhibit highlights the challenges facing these ecological wonders and offers ways people can make a difference right here in Chicago to help preserve rainforests across the planet.
Senior Curator of Urban Ecology Steven Sullivan stressed the effects of long-distance effects recently while showing the exhibit recently to Windy City Times. For example, housecats are globally responsible for the deaths of approximately 500 billion birds each year, Sullivan said.
Inside the exhibition, visitors can, among other things:
Climb a kapok tree, explore a gorilla's nest, meet virtual rainforest scientists, all while discovering how to protect endangered species;
Use scientific tools such as hand lenses, microscopes, compasses and binoculars to conduct further research and analyze findings.
Interact with both live animals such as the blue-throated macaw, violet turacos and green tree pythons, and discover specimens from the Chicago Academy of Sciences.
The Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum is at 2430 N. Cannon Dr., just off Lake Shore Drive at Fullerton in Lincoln Park. The exhibition ends next spring.
Andrew Davis