It’s so quiet in the exhibit! Well, not exactly quiet. It can get a little noisy from the renovation work being done in the other areas of the Museum. But here in the Rainforest, without the daily visitors walking through, it feels very still and quiet.
With no new shipments of butterflies and moths, we have watched the fluttery population dwindle to nothing. We now have no butterfly residents in the exhibit!
Except for the rare times we gathered our butterflies into our labs for protection in the face of a strong hurricane, we have had a changing variety of species here for decades now. You can browse our Butterflies of the Rainforest Exhibit ID Guide to look at the many types of residents we’ve hosted over the years.
Our keepers are still active in the exhibit to maintain the plants and feed the other exhibit residents like the many birds! Pagoda flowers, orchids, bromeliads and more have bloomed throughout the lush exhibit, happy to produce bursts of color for our staff and the birds.
As a living exhibit, the Butterfly Rainforest will continue to be maintained by staff during our temporary closure. Shipments of butterflies have been paused. All other animals and plants will be cared for throughout the duration of the construction project.
We look forward to seeing everyone again once we reopen! Be sure to subscribe to our emails for news and updates
Many thanks to Keeper Ingrith for sharing her photos and experiences with the team of exhibit caretakers.