Natural History Showcase
The EcoTarium was founded in 1825 as the Worcester Lyceum of Natural History, and is one of the oldest Natural History Museums in the United States. Our oldest specimen, a whale’s tooth, was collected that same year. We’ve been adding to our collection ever since, and now have approximately 50,000 specimens.
We have over 300 specimens on permanent display, and hundreds more that are available during special programs. Each quarter, we will pull one of the hidden gems from our collection to put on display.
In 2025 you will find these four collection items on display:
Winter Display – Whooping Cranes
Cranes symbolize happiness, long life, and good fortune in many cultures. These Whooping Cranes (Grus americana) represent our hopes for 2025, the EcoTarium’s 200th anniversary year.
Whooping Cranes are endangered. There are only about 800 in the world. Their population was once down to 12 individuals in the wild. This recovery is only possible due to a lot of hard work, including human rearing and increased protection for their habitats. These cranes raise their young in pairs, taking turns to incubate the eggs and care for the chicks.
Spring Display – Songbirds
Songbirds announce spring in New England with their cheerful calls. The Worcester Natural History Society has been involved in bird research and conservation for over 100 years.
Edward Howe Forbush (1858-1929) was uniquely interested in birds. He was appointed our curator of ornithology (the study of birds) at the age of sixteen. He wrote more than twenty books about birds, and one about cats where he told people to keep their cats inside so that they wouldn’t kill birds. When the Massachusetts Audubon Society was formed in 1896, he was one of the scientific partners. Forbush was our president from 1888 to 1891, and we are thinking about his legacy of conservation during our 200th anniversary year.
Summer Display – Jaguar
The Jaguar (Panthera onca) is the largest cat native to the Americas. They are apex predators, capable of capturing deer, capybaras, and even turtles with their powerful jaws. Their range once extended from the southern USA to central Argentina, but is now much reduced and fragmented owing to habitat loss.
Jaguars’ striking appearance has captured human imagination throughout history. Many Central and South American myths include Jaguar gods, or human-like gods with Jaguar features. Native American ceremonial artifacts with pictures of Jaguars have been found as far north as Missouri.
Fall Display – Impala
Impala (Aepyceros melampus) are a species of antelope found in southern and eastern Africa. Many predators hunt them, including lions, leopards, cheetahs, hyenas, wild dogs, and humans.
These impala were collected by Robert Waring Stoddard (1906-1984). Stoddard was a trustee of the Worcester Natural History Society in the 1970s, and an avid hunter. He donated more than twenty specimens to us, including all of the large animals on display next door in the African Communities exhibit. Although we no longer hunt animals for our collection, we can still learn from our history.
Exhibit is included with admission.
