Live Animal Care Center

Permanent Exhibit

Visit this viewing area for a behind-the-scenes peek at some of the animals that star in Museum exhibits, Live Animal presentations, and Traveling Programs. The Live Animal Care Center is home to approximately 120 animals, representing more than 50 species.

Through the viewing window, you may see people cleaning cages, preparing food, being trained to handle animals, or assisting veterinarians. The area features information about the animals on view, the different foods they eat, and the specific living environments they require.

Introducing visitors to live animals helps us explain the value and importance of animals, the impact humans have on their habitats, and the struggle for species to survive. Live animals contribute to a wide variety of exhibits and programs that encourage observation and inquiry and promote interest in the natural sciences.

The Museum of Science, Boston is an Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) accredited institution. AZA accreditation means that we meet the AZA’s high standards for animal management and care. The AZA rigorously evaluates the Museum every five years to maintain its accreditation.

Species Conservation at the Museum

The cotton-top tamarins, located in the Hall of Human Life, are part of the Species Survival Plan^® program. We collaborate with 60 other institutions to breed genetically healthy captive populations of tamarins here in the United States, and to save the wild habitat in their native Colombia.

Closer to home, northern red-bellied cooters (turtles native to Plymouth County) are endangered due to habitat loss, pesticide use, and predation of hatchlings by skunks and raccoons, among others. The Museum participates in a program that raises hatchlings in captivity for their first year, so they are bigger and better able to survive when they are released back into the wild.