REXBURG—BYU-Idaho’s Wildlife Museum is set for a grand reopening next month.
After getting its first renovation in nearly 15 years, the Wildlife Museum in the Ezra Taft Benson building will reopen on Wednesday, Nov. 4.
The renovation officially began during the 2025 Fall Semester. Wildlife Museum Director Mikayla Khilobok says the museum received lots of inspiration and advice from both the Museum of Idaho and the Idaho Falls Zoo. Khilobok is excited to see how the museum will blossom with its changes.
“It had a lot of potential, just as far as it’s a good amount of space where there could be presentation of there could be public speakers, and a lot of potential just wasn’t being tapped into,” Khilobok said. “We cleaned it up, rearranged a bunch of exhibits, and right now, we’re working on getting the informational signs finalized and then we’ll get them up on the walls and it’ll help kickstart us into a fully functioning museum.”
The mission statement of the Wildlife Museum centers around spreading appreciation for God’s creations and helping people achieve a greater understanding of them. This goes hand-in-hand with the main goals of the museum.
“To enhance the learning of students, and it’s also open to the public,” Khilobok said. “We get a lot of school groups, sometimes we just get random families coming. Now, we’re going to have activities and presenters, and the signs will make a huge difference in the goal of the museum. From here, we’ll be able to increase the learning and understand for students and the public as well.”
The presentations have never been done at the Wildlife Museum before. Guest speakers will present once a month and students in the department will run booths multiple times a week.
Khilobok says the biggest new feature of the museum is a rotating exhibit of fur specimens from the Idaho Falls Zoo. It’s available for visitors to touch and feel the pelts and learn more about their history and which animals they come from.
Khilobok hopes the museum becomes a source of inspiration for those who visit.
“There’s a lot of power in going outside and connecting with nature and seeing animals and how they interact with the environment and how they affect us and how we affect them,” Khilobok said. “Being able to go and learn about them and form more of a connection with wildlife and the world that we live in can be very, very powerful. It just helps us gain so much more of an appreciation for where we live.”
The grand reopening ceremony will take place on Wednesday, Nov. 4. Supporters from the Museum of Idaho, the Idaho Falls Zoo and the Idaho Department of Fish and Game will be in attendance. On Nov. 6-7, the museum will be staffed all day long with free activities, games and crafts, and will be open to the public.