Lindsay Wildlife Experience, Wildlife museum and rehabilitation hospital in Walnut Creek, California, United States

Lindsay Wildlife Experience is a family museum and wildlife rehabilitation center in Walnut Creek, California. It occupies a 28,000-square-foot building near the old water-pump house in Larkey Park, with exhibits of California wildlife and natural history specimens. A special theater offers a view into one of the hospital's treatment rooms, and resident animal ambassadors include hawks, owls, eagles, and other native species.

The institution started in 1955 as the Diablo Junior Museum, founded by Alexander Lindsay as a space for science education. It later shifted toward animal care, moving into a converted water-pump building at Larkey Park in 1965 where it focused on treating and rehabilitating injured wildlife.

Of the 70 animals kept at Lindsay, nearly all have a physical, psychological or behavioural problem that would prevent survival in the wild; they serve as animal ambassadors for conservation and natural history. Some are on public view, while others live off-exhibit and appear in presentations, classes, tours and private animal encounters. The museum also asks visitors to keep cats indoors, since many patients arrive cat-caught.

The site opens Wednesday through Sunday from 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM, with parking readily available at Larkey Park. Plan to spend a few hours walking between indoor exhibits and outdoor animal areas to see everything comfortably.

A behind-the-scenes window allows visitors to watch veterinarians treating injured birds in the hospital without disturbing the animals or medical staff. This rare access shows what daily rescue work actually looks like for people who come through.