American Museum of Natural History Research Library
author: American Museum of Natural History

Endangered! Exploring a World at Risk (Exhibition)
birth: 1997 March 8
death: 1997 September 1
Exhibition. Opened March 8, 1997 and closed September 1, 1997. Located in Section 3, Floor 3 in Gallery 3 at American Museum of Natural History. Endangered! Exploring a World at Risk examined endangerment and extinction through specially created dioramas, specimens from the Museum’s collections, live animals, and videos.
Summary
Endangered! Exploring a World at Risk examined endangerment and extinction through specially created dioramas, specimens from the Museum’s collections, live animals, and videos. The Museum’s Hall of Biodiversity, which opened in 1998, expanded upon the theme of this exhibition (1). Ross MacPhee, curator and chairman, Department of Mammalogy, organized the major exhibition (2, p. 29).
Highlights (1; 4):
*Diorama of pandas in their native habitat, with video highlighting plight of giant panda as a result of habitat loss
*Diorama of an alligator hole in the Florida Everglades, formerly one of the largest wetlands in the world
*Volkswagen Beetle encrusted with zebra mussels, a European mollusk, after four months of submersion in Lake Erie, demonstrating the problem of introduced species
*Video about non-native Nile perch, which caused the extinction of native species in Lake Victoria and the effect of this on the human population that depends on the Lake
*Displays illustrating how animals have been commercially exploited with many items confiscated from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, including a 19th century parlor, 20th century fashion boutique, contemporary shop with medicines derived from animal parts
*Live animals, including tortoises and Chinese alligators, which were part of the Species Survival Plans coordinated by the Bronx Zoo and the New York Aquarium for Wildlife Conservation
*Video illustrating rate of extinction since the 17th century
*Presentation on the Endangered Species Act and resource area with information on public policy, legislation, and recovery efforts around the world
Preparators who worked on this exhibition included Joyce Cloughy, who painted the background for the Everglades diorama and Alec Madoff, who was part of a group who created the foreground for the Everglades diorama, both of whom traveled to Florida Everglades National Park; Marco Hernandez, who consulted with George B. Schaller, author of The Last Panda and science director of international programs at the Wildlife Conservation Society, to create the model for the giant panda diorama; and David McCormick, who sculpted a model of perch pursuing cichlids (3)
Related programs included workshops, lectures and demonstrations, a two-day symposium, walking tours, a performance, and film festival. The exhibition was sponsored and supported by Volkswagen AG and Sue Erpf Van de Bovenkamp of the Armand G. Erpf Fund. The public education programs for the exhibition were made possible through the Lila Acheson Wallace/American Museum of Natural History Fund. Support for English- and Spanish-language publications and education materials was provided by the Louis and Virginia Clemente Foundation and the City of New York Department of Cultural Affairs 1997 Cultural Challenge Program (1).
This is a condensed summary of the exhibition. For additional information, see Sources and/or Related Resources.