RALEIGH, N.C. — For the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic, one of the most popular and unique exhibits at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences has reopened. The Living Conservatory, also known as the “Butterfly Room," started welcoming visitors again on May 27.
Andy Kauffman, the head of the Living Conservatory at the museum, started his journey there more than two decades ago as an intern.
“I got to learn how to take care of all those animals first and foremost. And then I got to like tag along with the design process of building all this stuff and designing it from clay and whatever, you know, and and watching this museum come to fruition just in that time period. And that was back in 2000,” Kauffman said.
Walking into the Butterfly Room, visitors are transported to a different part of the world.
“You are in a dry tropical forest habitat, just like somewhere in Central America. We kind of modeled it after a place in Costa Rica, the Guanacaste region of Costa Rica,” Kauffman said. “There's about 30 species of butterflies along with them. We have five turtles in the center bed, ornate wood turtles. We have a tarantula. A Brazilian black tarantula in a wall mounted case over here. It’s sealed in the case. We have a sloth, our two-toed sloth.”
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The Butterfly Room was impacted by the pandemic because of social distancing challenges, staffing shortages as well as the unknowns about the virus and animals. But now, it’s finally reopened to visitors.
“Yeah, that was that was a tough time. But we're glad we all made it through. And this is the reward is being able to do this again,” Kauffman said.
Kauffman says he’s excited to see this room once again filled with curious guests and share a unique experience they may have never had before.
“Instead of as a bystander or somebody watching from the outside looking in, you're inside now, and it's kind of more exciting to me. It's fun to see kids and adults alike just enjoying that,” Kauffman said. “This is not completely natural, but it's as close as we can get in the third floor of a building downtown. So it's pretty exciting to see that work, and it work on people and kids. When they come in, they feel like they're actually having this experience in an outdoor setting.”
The North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences is open every day, except Mondays, and tickets are free. According to museum officials, about one million people visit the museum every year. The Butterfly Room will be open with special hours through mid-September.
The museum also takes volunteers for exhibits, including the Butterfly Room. To learn more about volunteer opportunities, visit the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences’ website.