California Living Museum, Native wildlife zoo in Kern County, US.
The California Living Museum is a zoo in Bakersfield, Kern County, dedicated entirely to animals native to the state of California. The enclosures are built to resemble the natural habitats where each species is found in the wild, ranging from desert to forest settings.
The museum opened in 1983 and was later placed under the management of the Kern County Superintendent of Schools in 1998. That change gave the site a formal role as an educational institution connected to local schools.
The DiGiorgio Education Center displays fossils from the Miocene and Pleistocene periods found in the Kern County region. These remains show visitors what kinds of animals lived across this part of California long before the present day.
The site is in Bakersfield and is open Tuesday through Sunday, closed on Mondays. Going in the morning is a good idea since the heat is lower and the animals tend to move around more.
Every year the museum takes in between 300 and 500 injured wild animals from across California, treats them, and releases many back into the wild. This makes it one of the most active wildlife rehabilitation centers in the region, a role that most visitors are unaware of.
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