Museum's New Exhibit Is Nothing But Crap

Seriously.

Meadow muffins. Guano. Feces. Solid waste. Caca. The words for poop are endless, but the Miami Metrozoo has another term to add to the list: educational.

Now on display is a 5,000-square-foot exhibit on excrement titled "The Scoop on Poop," which invites visitors to explore the science of scat. The exhibit is filled with photos of animals in some of their most indelicate moments. Stool sample models abound: haylike football-sized balls (elephant), kidney-bean-looking pellets (porcupine) and coallike lumps coated with fur (black bear).

Beyond the "ick" factor, however, zoo officials and the exhibit's creators say there is a lot of information being imparted. Visitors can smell the stench of flowers that mimic dung to attract flies for pollination. Videos include one of a hippo spreading its droppings around to mark its territory. Simple games include "Who Dung It?"

"We didn't want this to be a gross exhibit for shock value," said Chad Peeling, who helped create the display. "Our goal with the exhibit was to make people think, kids especially, about the science in all aspects in life and this thing that adults don't like to talk about."

Mr. Peeling went on to say that the next exhibit would be the Webb Collection, featuring interactive "Funucational" displays including a plastic Cambodian boy who can be picked up, turned upside down, and have his penis put in your mouth.

Thanks to chickpea, who doesn't believe that everybody poops.

posted by Ace at 12:23 PM

| Access Comments