‘Butterfly Room’ reopens May 24
May 19, 2025
The Living Conservatory at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences is reopening Saturday, May 24. The popular exhibit, often referred to as the “Butterfly Room,” is modeled after a Central American forest and is filled with live animals. The two-toed sloth is a fan favorite, but the room also houses as many as 200 live butterflies (of course), a tropical milk snake, a tarantula and five ornate wood turtles. Look closely and you can even see Central American cichlid fish circling the room’s 200-gallon pond.
Plant lovers will also notice a real vanilla orchid, mahogany and allspice trees, strangler figs and more. Everything in the room is designed to teach visitors more about North Carolina’s connection to the tropics through migration, shared species and products. “I hope that people leave the Conservatory wanting to learn more about something they experienced in the room,” says Andy Kauffman, Head of the Living Conservatory and Arthropod Zoo.
Additionally, the Museum will be open seven days a week from Memorial Day (May 26) through Labor Day (Sept. 1), 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. Living Conservatory hours are daily, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.
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