Draper museum puts bones back together to share about Yellowstone-area wildlife
February 6, 2025
Draper museum puts bones back together to share about Yellowstone-area wildlife
A Museum Minute
By Olivia Weitz
Wyoming Public Media
February 6, 2025
A 1-minute audio snapshot highlighting a museum object from the collection of the Buffalo Bill Center of the West.
The Draper Natural History Museum showcases the wildlife of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. Curator Corey Anco says the museum sometimes reconstructs animal skeletons as an educational tool.
In the summer of 2022, the museum hosted a workshop where people helped put the bones of a grizzly bear and mountain lion back together using a process called “articulation.”
“The bear and the lion took over 750 hours of combined assistance from staff and volunteers to reconstruct,” Anco explained.
The grizzly bear and mountain lion are currently on display in the Draper and there’s a YouTube video that shows a timelapse of the whole process.
“Skeletal mounts allow visitors to see the structure of bones and how structure might lend itself to function. Something that’s not easily observed through taxidermy,” he said.
The Draper is planning a workshop this fall to reassemble the bones of a bison that will be part of a major exhibit opening in 2026.
Written By
Olivia Weitz
Olivia Weitz is a Multimedia Journalist for Wyoming Public Radio. She works out of a recording studio inside the Buffalo Bill Center of the West in Cody. She covers Yellowstone National Park, wildlife, and arts and culture throughout the region. She produces the “Museum Minute” series, which features objects from the Center of the West’s collections.
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