OUTDOORS LABEL
Amazon rainforest pop-up bubble
Great Barrier Reef display
WET AND WILD
Fan-favorite museum and aquarium is a must-see attraction
F
or the third time in four years, Johnny Morris’ Wonders of Wildlife National Museum & Aquarium in Springfield, Mo., has been voted the best aquarium in USA TODAY’s 10Best Reader’s Choice awards. Wonders of Wildlife celebrates hunting, fishing and conservation through immersive galleries and a 1.5 milliongallon aquarium. Some 800 species are on display, including zebra sharks, sea turtles and freshwater sport fish. The aquarium also features a collection of historic boats used by fishing legends and celebrities, including singer Jimmy Buffett and renown authors and outdoorsmen Ernest Hemingway and Zane Grey. Wonders of Wildlife was founded by Johnny Morris, founder and CEO of Bass Pro Shops, in partnership with more than 40 leading conservation organizations, including Ducks
110 HUNT & FISH | 2021
Unlimited, National Audubon Society, National Wildlife Federation and National Wild Turkey Federation. After 10Best readers voted it the best new attraction in 2017, Wonders of Wildlife was named best aquarium in 2018 and 2020. 10Best notes that Morris’ conservation-related efforts have “solidified his place alongside such remarkable environmentalists” as Theodore Roosevelt and famed 19thcentury nature photographer William Henry Jackson. In a statement congratulating Wonders of Wildlife for the achievement, Ducks Unlimited CEO Adam Putnam called it “the most important natural history museum to open in more than a century” and “the single-handed greatest effort to celebrate the true spirit of conservation.” — GREGORY J. HOLMAN writes for the Springfield (Mo.)
News-Leader.
JOHHNY MORRIS’ WONDERS OF WILDLIFE NATIONAL MUSEUM & AQUARIUM
BY GREGORY J. HOLMAN
