Kansas Wildlife Exhibit

About Kansas Wildlife Exhibit

The Kansas Wildlife Exhibit is a free exhibit of native Kansas animals at 700 N. Nims Street in Central Riverside Park, Wichita, Kansas. The Great Plains Nature Center, which calls the exhibit its partner in Riverside Park, says exhibit caretaker Todd Volkmann oversees the care and maintenance of the animals and exhibits on behalf of the City of Wichita. The exhibit's page on the Great Plains Nature Center website describes it as Wichita's original zoo, says it is about a mile northwest of downtown Wichita, and says there is no admission fee and that the exhibit is open year-round. It is not an AZA-accredited facility.

The Great Plains Nature Center's page describes more than 25 species of native mammals, reptiles and birds in eight displays. It describes the exhibits as having a modern, naturalistic design intended to support the health and comfort of the animals.

History

The Great Plains Nature Center states that the exhibit opened in 1988 and continues a long tradition of zoos at that location. It says there has been a zoo in one form or another on the site since 1901.

Exhibits and habitats

The exhibit is organized into eight displays of native wildlife. The Great Plains Nature Center's page describes the collection as more than 25 species of native mammals, reptiles and birds.

Conservation and programs

The Great Plains Nature Center page says feedings take place daily at 12 p.m. The page also says many of the animals kept at the exhibit are used by Great Plains Nature Center staff in programming, and that thousands of children and adults have seen the animals up close through those programs and at the exhibit.

The Great Plains Nature Center is a partnership of four entities: the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks, the City of Wichita Department of Park and Recreation, and the Friends of the Great Plains Nature Center. Its partnership page says the agency partnership began in 1996, that the nonprofit Friends organization was established shortly afterward, and that the visitor center opened to the public in August 2000. The partnership page describes the joint effort as providing an educational facility where the public can learn about wildlife and conservation of the Great Plains.

According to its educational programs page, the Great Plains Nature Center offers virtual programs, outreach programs at a group's location and field trips to the nature center, free of charge.

Planning your visit

The exhibit's page says it is open year-round. Feedings are at 12 p.m. daily. Admission is free.

The Great Plains Nature Center's own building is a separate site. According to the nature center's construction page, that building is temporarily closed to visitors for foundation repairs, with reopening expected in fall 2027, while its programs and events continue.

Questions about the exhibit can go to caretaker Todd Volkmann at tvolkmann@wichita.gov or (316) 337-9211, or to the Great Plains Nature Center at (316) 683-5499 or info@gpnc.org. The exhibit also has a Facebook page named Kansas Wildlife Exhibit.