Virginia Living Museum Wild Care Center

The Wild Care Center, the newest addition on the Virginia Living Museum’s 23-acre campus, redefines the guest experience by creating a literal window into the world of veterinary and preventative animal care, nutrition, and the connection between humans and our environment.

Located along the Museum’s outdoor boardwalk trail, the 6,647 square foot Wild Care Center houses the Museum’s veterinary suite, animal nutrition center, and animal ambassador habitats. The building features a two-story Visitor Gallery with clerestory windows above to bring in natural light. Large clear glass windows along a curved wall provides visitors a behind-the-scenes look into the food prep room, allowing people to witness what it takes to feed the wide variety of animals. The food preparation area includes a separate food storage room and a large walk-in refrigerator. A large freezer is located outside the building in a fenced area, along with an emergency generator.

The new building increases the Virginia Living Museum’s veterinary capabilities with a surgery suite, clinical procedure, ICU, X-Ray, and necropsy rooms. Guests can witness the museum’s veterinary care team in action as they provide check-ups, surgery and medical care to the animals. The Wild Care Center presents the highest standards of animal welfare, fostering a deeper appreciation for Virginia’s native wildlife.

The building includes dedicated space for avian, reptile, and small animal holding rooms, necropsy and ICU. On the opposite side of the visitor gallery the VLM staff corridor connects to the feature spaces allowing surgeons, X-Ray technician and food preparers to perform daily duties. This corridor connects the curator’s office, veterinary and staff offices, scrub room, breakroom, toilets and the mechanical/electrical room. This corridor also allows post-surgery animals to be placed in the exterior recovery enclosures until ready to be returned to their primary enclosure.

The Wild Care Center includes numerous sustainable and energy-conserving design features, including recycled materials, polished concrete floors, insulated exterior glass with bird-strike deterrent features, low VOC materials, reflective roof colors, porous service drives and variable refrigerant flow (VRF) equipment for its HVAC systems. All interior partitions contain sound-deadening insulation.

The Wild Care Center hosts close encounters with the museum’s animal ambassadors. These animals interact with guests and provide animal education opportunities for schools around the state and visiting families. This new facility helps the dedicated staff at the Virginia Living Museum showcase the highest standards of animal welfare while inspiring future generations to pursue careers in STEM-related fields.