Press Release
The Wildlife Experience Explains Extinction
DENVER- January 30, 2004 - Is extinction a natural and necessary occurrence? What effect do you have on the natural processes of extinction? How can you help prevent further damage to delicate ecosystems and wildlife? Learn about the history of extinction, the effect humans have on extinction and what you can do to help preserve Earth's flora and fauna at The Wildlife Experience.
"Our Weakening Web: The Story of Extinction," a traveling exhibit based out of the Cincinnati Museum Center, provides visitors with a first-hand look at extinction from its beginnings 530 million years ago. "Our Weakening Web" invites visitors to experience scenes lost forever to extinction, such as a deep chestnut forest engulfed by the sounds of a flock of passenger pigeons flying overhead. Visitors may also see the last gasp of the dinosaurs during the Cretaceous Period and see a dire wolf stalking an unsuspecting bison during the Pleistocene Epoch.
"Our Weakening Web" contains elements ranging from computer games that challenge visitors to manipulate environmental variables to scenes with representational fauna throughout history. Through these interactive components and life-like dioramas, the exhibit encourages hands-on learning and helps visitors understand the ecological relationships that bind all life forms together.
The goals of the exhibit are to demonstrate that extinction is a natural process that has been occurring since the beginning of life on Earth; to explain how humans are affecting the current extinction rate by changing the global environment; and to suggest changes people can make to decrease their impact on the environment and preserve biodiversity.
"Our Weakening Web: The Story of Extinction" comes to The Wildlife Experience on March 20 and will remain until June 13. For more information on this exhibit and The Wildlife Experience, please call (720) 488-3300 "
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