Key Pillars of our Education Program
We inspire, educate, and conserve through our exhibits, programs, and outreach with a commitment to wild sheep since 1993.
Come explore the world of the Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep. The central display, “Sheep Mountain,” is a 16-feet tall diorama that recreates the summer and winter habitats of the Bighorns. This exhibit includes plants and other wildlife that share bighorn sheep’s habitats. Our dioramas include full-body taxidermy mounts of grizzly bears, marmots, wolves, golden eagles, mule deer, chipmunks, pikas, coyotes, mountain goats, bushy-tailed woodrats, mountain lions, and more!
Other Center exhibits include hands-on interactive displays that will engage, educate, and entertain visitors of all ages! Feel the weight of a mature bighorn ram’s horn, identify wildlife tracks, scat, and fur samples, and listen to a variety of local people telling their own bighorn sheep stories. Center exhibits also examine predator/prey relationships, explain the survival strategy of migration, and help visitors see the mountain environment through the eyes of a bighorn sheep. We occasionally have temporary special exhibits in the Ronald W. Ball Memorial Gallery as well as in the main exhibit hall.
In memory of Ronald W. Ball, this Gallery honors Ron, who helped create the Wyoming Wild Sheep Foundation through his dedication to bighorn sheep conservation in Wyoming. The small Gallery hosts a theater space where educational films, temporary special exhibits including artwork and photography, and educational programs are regularly hosted.
The Bighorn Sheep Center also features information about the Sheepeater (also called the Mountain Shoshone) Native Americans. This culture inhabited the Dubois area for thousands of years and had a strong connection with wild sheep. Examine a re-creation of an ancient Sheepeater Indian sheep trap, and make your own drawing of a petroglyph based on an original design that was created hundreds of years ago. See handmade winter boots made from bighorn sheep fur. Ponder the skillful creation of a sheep horn bow, a highly prized possession among the early inhabitants of this area. Part of the Sheepeater display includes a collection of replica stone and bone tools, hand-tanned bighorn sheep hide, and many other items all made with material from bighorn sheep. The Sheepeater displays are unique to the Bighorn Sheep Center. Come and learn!