In the lively imaginations of Aquarium staff, Animal Planet Australia: Wild Extremes existed years before its construction or opening to the public. John Seyjagat, the Aquarium’s curator of Australian exhibits muses, “Every animal has a story. We set out to build a land where visitors would discover surprises with every step.”
In 2001, exhibit and curatorial staff headed to Australia to explore a variety of parks and river gorges, finally settling on a remote northern habitat where flood, fire, and drought are the harbingers of seasonal change, and where an unusual and diverse collection of animals survives despite these wild extremes.
Aquarium experts identified specific animals that meet exhibit criteria, and returned to Baltimore ready to begin the hard work of animal acquisition.
Research by Aquarium staff revealed how and where such animals might be acquired—some could be obtained from breeding programs in this country or Europe, and some would be available only with permission from the government of Australia.
Lungfish, for example, must come from an Australian fish farm that is strictly regulated. Each fish has a microchip with a government number, proving that it has been bred at the designated farm, and not taken from the wild.
As the Aquarium broke ground on the 65,400 square-foot building which would become home to these Australian animals, they were also preparing a state-of-the-art facility off-site in Baltimore where they would raise many of the animals from juveniles in the years leading up to the exhibit’s opening.
