Squam Lakes Natural Science Center (SLNSC) is an

environmental education Environmental education (EE) refers to organized efforts to teach how natural environments function, and particularly, how human beings can manage behavior and ecosystems to live sustainably. It is a multi-disciplinary field integrating discip ...

center and

zoo A zoo (short for zoological garden; also called an animal park or menagerie) is a facility in which animals are kept within enclosures for public exhibition and often bred for conservation purposes. The term ''zoological garden'' refers to zoo ...

founded in 1966 and opened to the public on July 1, 1969. The science center is located in

Holderness, New Hampshire Holderness is a town in Grafton County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 2,004 at the 2020 census. An agricultural and resort area, Holderness is home to the Squam Lakes Natural Science Center and is located on Squam Lake. Holderne ...

, United States. The mission of the science center is to advance understanding of ecology by exploring

New Hampshire New Hampshire is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

's natural world. The science center uses live animal exhibits, natural science education programs, and lake cruises to educate visitors about the natural world. Using the outdoors as a classroom and native New Hampshire animals as teaching ambassadors, the science center teaches the ecological concepts of adaptations, populations, interrelationships, and habitats.

History

Planning for the center started in 1965, and for the center was purchased in 1966 with money raised from the community. The center was opened to the public on July 1, 1969."Science Center to be Dedicated at Holderness"
''Portsmouth Herald'' (September 16, 1972): 14. via

Newspapers.com Ancestry.com LLC is an American genealogy company based in Lehi, Utah. The largest for-profit genealogy company in the world, it operates a network of genealogical, historical records, and related genetic genealogy websites. In November 2018, ...

In September 2006, the center was first accredited by the

Association of Zoos and Aquariums The Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA), originally the American Association of Zoological Parks and Aquariums, is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in 1924 and dedicated to the advancement of zoos and public aquariums in ...

(AZA). It is the only AZA-accredited institution in northern

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...

. The science center was accredited for a second five-year term in September 2011, and again in September 2016.

Animals

* American black bear *

White-tailed deer The white-tailed deer (''Odocoileus virginianus''), also known as the whitetail or Virginia deer, is a medium-sized deer native to North America, Central America, and South America as far south as Peru and Bolivia. It has also been introduced t ...

Coyote The coyote (''Canis latrans'') is a species of canis, canine native to North America. It is smaller than its close relative, the wolf, and slightly smaller than the closely related eastern wolf and red wolf. It fills much of the same ecologica ...

Mountain lion The cougar (''Puma concolor'') is a large cat native to the Americas. Its range spans from the Canadian Yukon to the southern Andes in South America and is the most widespread of any large wild terrestrial mammal in the Western Hemisphere. ...

* Bobcat *

North American river otter The North American river otter (''Lontra canadensis''), also known as the northern river otter and river otter, is a semiaquatic mammal that only lives on the North American continent, along its waterways and coasts. An adult North American rive ...

* Red fox * Bald eagle *

American mink The American mink (''Neogale vison'') is a semiaquatic species of mustelid native to North America, though human intervention has expanded its range to many parts of Europe, Asia and South America. Because of range expansion, the American mink i ...

Barred owl The barred owl (''Strix varia''), also known as the northern barred owl, striped owl or, more informally, hoot owl, is a North American large species of owl. A member of the true owl family, Strigidae, they belong to the genus '' Strix'', whic ...

Red-tailed hawk The red-tailed hawk (''Buteo jamaicensis'') is a bird of prey that breeds throughout most of North America, from the interior of Alaska and northern Canada to as far south as Panama and the West Indies. It is one of the most common members wit ...

Notes

External links

* {{authority control Nature centers in New Hampshire Education in Grafton County, New Hampshire Tourist attractions in Grafton County, New Hampshire Buildings and structures in Grafton County, New Hampshire Zoos in New Hampshire Holderness, New Hampshire Squam Lake

History

Animals

See also

Notes

External links