Natural history museums and extinct species have a long, intertwined history, and at the intersection lies the diorama.
Here at Milwaukee Public Museum, our renowned and immersive habitat dioramas have many different extinct or endangered species on display.
Below, we highlight 10 dioramas and how each relates to extinction stories.
MENOMINEE RIVER VALLEY, MILWAUKEE, 1,000 YEARS AGO
This diorama shows how Wisconsin's wildlife used to look many years ago. It displays two animals that would have been found in what is now Milwaukee.
The passenger pigeon is a species of wild pigeon native to North America. It was once one of the most abundant birds in the world but was hunted to extinction. Numbering in the billions in the early 18th century, European settlers saw them as an endless source of food. Passenger pigeons also suffered from habitat loss as many forests were being converted to farmland. These two factors led to their extinction with the last passenger pigeon, Martha, dying in captivity in 1914.
While elk are not extinct, they were extirpated in Wisconsin, or “locally extinct” in the 1880s due to unregulated hunting. Since then, elk have been successfully reintroduced to Wisconsin. More than 100 years after they were extirpated, the first elk herd was reintroduced in 1995, and a second was reintroduced in 2015.
TURKEY DIORAMA
This diorama displays wild turkeys in the southern United States. Above them, one can see a pair of Carolina parakeets. The Carolina parakeet was a brightly colored parrot that was, at that time, one of three parrot species native to the United States. Once very common, the last known Carolina parakeet, Incas, died in captivity in 1918. Carolina parakeets were sought-after because of their bright feathers and became popular pets. Hunting and human-led habitat loss were also major factors that contributed to their eventual extinction.
While the diorama label mentions the American chestnut tree, it is not actually displayed in the diorama. The absence of this tree from the diorama is important and tells its own story. The American chestnut is native to North America and a large, fast-growing tree. It was once a dominant species here. The mast (nuts, seeds, fruit from woody plants) from American chestnuts were a vital food source for many wild animals. A model of a chestnut mast is located across from this diorama in a case labeled “Mist-Shrouded Mountains.”
While it is not extinct, the American chestnut is critically endangered. In the early 20th century, the chestnut blight fungal disease was introduced to North America and killed billions of American chestnuts. Today, there are only a couple thousand left, the vast majority of them outside their historic range, with the largest population located in Wisconsin.
The story of the American chestnut shows how extinction histories are rarely isolated to just one species. The disappearance of American chestnuts from their historic range greatly impacted animals, such as the Carolina parakeet and passenger pigeon, that depended on their mast for food.
With only a couple thousand of American chestnuts left, there is a lot of work being done to help save the species. Researchers are working on breeding blight-resistant chestnuts to hopefully reintroduce them to their historic range and save them from extinction.
BLACK ASH BASKETS
Here, we are not seeing a habitat diorama, but rather cultural artifacts made from black ash trees. Ash trees are abundant in the United States, where there are multiple native species. Ash trees are also culturally important to various Indigenous cultures, such as the Haudenosaunee Nations (Iroquois), Ojibwe, and other Woodland groups. The Great Lakes and northern woodlands are the natural range for black ash trees.
Black ash trees are unique as they do not have fibers connecting the growth rings to each other, making it the perfect wood for basket weavers. By pounding the wood, one can get splint or long, thin, flexible, yet durable strips.
In 2002, the invasive species emerald ash borer was detected in North America and has decimated ash tree populations. This small, metallic-green beetle feeds on ash, specifically targeting the wood underneath the bark, eventually killing the tree. Today, because of this invasive species, the black, blue, white, green, and pumpkin ash are listed as critically endangered. If not contained, the borer threatens the survival of the North American ash. For comparison, the chestnut blight killed 3.5 billion American chestnuts, and the Dutch elm disease killed over 200 million American elms. The emerald ash borer threatens the survival of 7.5 billion ash trees.
The loss of ash trees would be devastating to the ecosystem, as it is a common habitat for many animals, such as frogs, providing food for tadpoles who feed on the leaves. The loss would also affect the Haudenosaunee and other Woodland groups as the cultural and historic art of basket weaving is closely tied to the black ash tree.
Today, research is being done and various movements happening to help save the North American ash. Haudenosaunee basket weavers are exploring ways to protect the species, such as preserving the seeds of the trees.
Extinction stories are not solely confined to the species that is lost; when a species is gone, so are the interactions that species had with other wildlife and the relationship to humans.
BEACH SCENE
This habitat diorama showcases a beach scene with various species of birds, including the whooping crane. When the whooping cranes in this diorama were acquired, they were still an abundant bird.
The whooping crane is native to North America and once numbered more than 10,000. After the arrival of European settlers, unregulated hunting and significant habitat loss brought the population down to just 21 wild whooping cranes in 1941.
Whooping cranes have since made an incredible comeback due to decades-long conservation efforts. Today, these birds are still endangered, but now number over 830 individuals. They have a breeding ground in central Wisconsin.
CROWDED COAST
This habitat diorama is a very detailed depiction of a nesting site for various waterfowl species on the St. Lawrence River. Waterfowl were once more abundant here, but overhunting has dwindled their numbers and caused the extinction of two species that used to nest at this site.
The great auk was once an abundant bird in the Atlantic regions of North America and northern Europe and culturally important to many Native American groups. After the arrival of European settlers, they were hunted for food and for their feathers. The last great auks were a breeding pair killed in 1844.
The Labrador duck was native to the north Atlantic coast of North America. Already uncommon before European settlers arrived, habitat loss and overhunting quickly reduced the population. The last sighting of a Labrador duck was in 1878.
BISON HUNT
One of MPM's most famous dioramas, the Bison Hunt was the largest open diorama in the world when it was made in 1966. It depicts a bison hunt, a fundamental activity to the Native Americans of the Great Plains.
The American bison once roamed from Alaska all the way to Mexico and numbered in the tens of millions. The United States' expansion west in the 1800s saw the deliberate overhunting of bison, specifically to destroy the food source for Native Americans, and left the species at just about 500 individuals left. The last known wild bison east of the Mississippi were two individuals that were shot in Wisconsin in 1832.
As the bison were being targeted, many individuals made an effort to capture herds and save them. Recovery efforts since then have brought their numbers up to more than 30,000 bison in wild conservation herds and over half a million when counting commercial herds. Many Native American Nations have led American bison conservation efforts to restore ecological and cultural ties. Initiatives through organizations like the InterTribal Buffalo Council are reintroducing herds to ancestral lands, promoting food sovereignty, healing ecosystems, and reviving traditional practices. In Wisconsin, the Potawatomi, Menominee, Ho-Chunk, and Oneida have reintroduced bison herds to ancestral lands.
GREATER PRAIRIE CHICKEN
This habitat diorama showcases the courtship displays of sharp-tailed grouse and greater prairie chickens.
The greater prairie chicken is native to North America and was once a very abundant bird. It is now rare due to overhunting and significant habitat loss. It is not endangered, but the population is threatened, and the greater prairie chicken has been extirpated from much of its historic range in the Great Plains.
It is estimated that in the 1800s, greater prairie chickens numbered in the millions, but today, there are less than 500,000, with Wisconsin being home to about 500. Greater prairie chickens require large tracts of land to roam, breed, hide, and feed. This makes the vast prairies ideal as they have tall grasses for hiding and an abundance of insects to feed on. The conversion of grasslands into farmland as well as climate change have devastated the North American Great Plains with close to 99% of the original tall-grass prairies having been lost. The destruction of the grasslands has led to the decline of wildlife that call the grasslands home.
Since the 1950s, the Wisconsin DNR and other conservation groups have led the effort to protect the species. Since greater prairie chickens require so much land, they are considered an “umbrella species.” Protecting the habitat of the greater prairie chickens in turn protects the habitats of all other prairie wildlife. In the 1950s, thousands of acres of land in Portage County, Wisconsin, were purchased specifically to help preserve and manage habitat for the greater prairie chickens. Today, Buena Vista is home to over two-thirds of Wisconsin's greater prairie chickens.
BIRD HALL
Birds of Wisconsin displays more than 75 mounted bird specimens and numerous portraits of birds, all of which are either native to Wisconsin or migrate to or from Wisconsin. Some birds featured in this display have since gone extinct, been added to endangered lists, recovered from being endangered, or have faced issues like habitat loss.
The extinct species of the display include the passenger pigeon and Eskimo curlew. The Eskimo curlew was not yet extinct at the time of this exhibit's creation. It was last sighted in the 1980s but formally declared extinct in 2023. Meanwhile, other species like the Hudsonian godwit and piping plover have faced significant issues threatening their numbers.
The sandhill crane is another bird featured which has had successful conservation efforts—so much so that sandhill cranes are no longer considered endangered by organizations like the International Crane Foundation. The International Crane Foundation was founded in 1973 in Baraboo, Wisconsin, to help protect cranes and their habitats around the world.
The peregrine falcon was also once considered critically endangered but has since recovered well due to conservation. The heavy use of pesticides, especially DDT since the 1950s, severely poisoned their populations. The ingested pesticides could kill directly or cause reproductive failures by making eggshells thin and weak. Only 324 breeding pairs were left by 1975. The federal government listed the species as endangered in 1970, banned the use of DDT in 1972, and signed the Endangered Species Act in 1973.
In Wisconsin, peregrine falcons have had a great recovery. Much of this work was spearheaded by Greg Septon, MPM's Taxidermist and Natural History Outreach Coordinator at the time. Greg's research on falcons helped him establish the Wisconsin Peregrine Falcon Recovery Program in 1987 and work closely with the state government and downtown Milwaukee businesses to build nest boxes. Companies such as We Energies have supported these falcon recovery programs in Wisconsin since the 1990s. Their power plants make ideal nesting sites as these birds are drawn to tall structures near bodies of water. There are several structures throughout Milwaukee that are nesting sites for the falcons and even have cameras livestreaming them. Today, about 22% of the falcons born in the wild in Wisconsin were hatched at We Energies facilities.
Thanks to Greg's work and the collective conservation efforts in Wisconsin, peregrine falcons are thriving in Milwaukee and Wisconsin today.
HELL CREEK
Another one of MPM's most famous dioramas, Hell Creek was the first life-sized dinosaur habitat diorama. When it opened in 1983, one could imagine themselves back in the Mesozoic. Dinosaurs went extinct 65 million years ago, long before humans appeared, most likely due to an asteroid impact. For many, this memorable diorama inspired a love of dinosaurs.