The collection
Every specimen has a story.
Fossils, tracks, tusks and life-sized wildlife — collected over a lifetime, shown up close.
Ancient Oceans Ancient Oceans
When Mississippi was a sea floor.
The centerpiece: a genuine mosasaur — skull, vertebrae and teeth — from the age when giant marine reptiles ruled the waters over what is now the Deep South. Around it: dinosaur tracks, massive ammonites, petrified wood, and shelves of skulls that reward slow lookers.
A Walk in the Southern Woods A Walk in the Southern Woods
Mississippi's own wild, at arm's length.
An immersive walk-through of the woods right outside town — cougar in the branches, wild boar on the trail, deer, raccoon and more, with the sounds and settings of a Southern forest.
Ice & Tundra Ice & Tundra
A winter hunt, frozen mid-moment.
Wolves circle a bull moose in the snow while an elk bugles overhead — the museum's most dramatic scene, and the one visitors photograph most.
Global Wildlife Global Wildlife
The savannah, one street off Main.
Leopard in the acacia, gazelle mid-leap, ostrich standing guard — wildlife from Africa and beyond, plus the famous life-sized Monster Bear and authentic elephant tusks.
A walk in the woods A walk in the woods
Step into the swamp without getting your boots wet.
The Southern Woods walk-through puts you eye-level with the wildlife that actually lives out your back door — an alligator mid-bellow in the cypress water, a bass breaking the surface, herons, a bobcat, a black bear in the pines.
Walk in the Southern Woods
The swamp, one step off the sidewalk.
A slow pass through the cypress water — gator, gar, herons and the pine woods beyond.
Global Wildlife
Meet the lion. He does not blink first.
Africa's savanna, an arm's length from Second Street — lion, cheetah, rhino, ostrich, kudu and warthog.
A glimpse inside
See it in person
Photos don't do the Monster Bear justice.
Open Thursday–Saturday evenings. Group tours by appointment.