Butterflies Alive! and Prehistoric Forest Open May 25 at Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History

On Saturday, May 25, the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History will unveil two spectacular summer exhibits: Butterflies Alive! and Prehistoric Forest.

Monarch (Photo by Gary Robinson)

This summer will mark the Museum’s first full run of Butterflies Alive! following $20 million renovations supported by its Centennial Campaign. Visitors will be guided through a beautiful garden while nearly 1,000 live butterflies flutter freely around them. The exhibit features a dazzling variety of butterflies, from local favorites like the Monarch and Queen to exotic tropical varieties like swallowtails, longwings, and White Peacocks. Various butterfly species will cycle through the pavilion throughout the summer, so no two visits will be the same. Visitors are invited to learn about the butterfly life cycle by checking out the emergence chamber in the Museum’s Santa Barbara Gallery. There, visitors will get to see how butterflies emerge from their chrysalides and dry their wings before being moved to the pavilion.

Triceratops

Visitors who cross the Museum’s wooden bridges over Mission Creek will enter Prehistoric Forest and take a stroll back in time to come face-to-face with dinosaurs in the wild. They’ll meet a Tyrannosaurus rex, the formidably armored Stegosaurus, high-crested Parasaurolophus, and Triceratops and Ankylosaurus mothers with their young. These handcrafted moving animatronics from Kokoro Exhibits spark the imaginations of dinosaur-lovers of all ages.

Both exhibits are open from Saturday, May 25 to Monday, September 2, 10:00 AM–5:00 PM, and are included in Museum admission. www.sbnature.org