Most of us will never go on a safari. And that’s a good thing. But what if you could, instead, stay close to home and get a snapshot of a time when California was teeming with foxes, wolves and condors and witness the resources here dedicated to their survival?
There is such a place where visitors today can catch such a glimpse, right in an unexpected corner of our own backyard.
For the past four decades, the California Living Museum has served the state as a respite and repository for California’s natural inhabitants, both flora and fauna. On the eastern edge of Bakersfield, it looks out over the vast expanse of California’s Central Valley straight on to the southernmost foothills of the Sierra Nevada. Here, you can see certain creatures emerging from their natural habitats.
The museum is not merely a zoo, though it’s accredited by the Zoological Association of America. It’s a rehabilitation center, animal rescue facility and hospital. It’s also the only place where you can go to see some of the most endangered animals native to this state living in their natural habitats. In other words, it’s unlike any place in the world…