Space Farms Zoo and Museum

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Space Farms Zoo and Museum is a combination of a natural environment for animals and a historical museum located at 218 Route 519, in Beemerville in Sussex County, New Jersey, in the United States. It was founded in 1927 and has been running ever since.

A bobcat sleeping at Space Farms
A bobcat sleeping at Space Farms

A wide variety of mammals and reptiles of the North America region are present at the Space Farms zoo for visitors to see, including some endangered species.[1] At one time, Space Farms Zoo and Museum was host to the largest bear in captivity in the world[2] named, Goliath a Kodiak Bear. The 2,000-pound (900 kg) Goliath still stands tall in front of a diverse taxidermy exhibit in the main hall of the museum. He was preserved in an imposing upright position after his death in 1991.[3] His abnormally large skull is upstairs, where one can compare it to skulls of other animals. His status as the world's largest was first published by Ripley's Believe it or not and was verified by The Guiness Book of World Records.


The Space Farms museum houses an extensive variety of antique vehicles and items used during the early history of the United States such as horse drawn carriages and early motorcycles.[4] There are also colonial period tools and weapons on display.

Children can feed young animals by hand and there is a large food and drink area for picnics. There is also a gift shop and playground area where people can be explore nature without being in the wild.

Space Farms Zoo and Museum is open to the public daily but seasonal, being open from May through October.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Space Farms Zoo and Museum (zoo section)
  2. ^ Which is the largest bear on earth?
  3. ^ Strunsky, Steve. "ON THE MAP; A Zoo (and Much More) That Would Overwhelm Noah's Ark", The New York Times, October 19, 1997. Accessed October 11, 2007. "One of the permanent fixtures at Space Farms is Goliath, a 12-foot-tall, 2,000-pound Kodiak bear, who arrived as a cub 30 years ago and remains an attraction, having been stuffed after his death in 1991."
  4. ^ Krebs, Michelle. "Driving Back in Time: Auto Exhibits in the Mid-Atlantic States", The New York Times, August 20, 2006. Accessed October 11, 2007.

[edit] External links