Exotic creatures featured in Hungry Horse Museum

Mark Petersen is hoping to share his love of exotic animals with the millions of visitors that come Glacier National Park each year.

Located on the south side of Highway 2 in Hungry Horse, Petersen’s new Museum of Wildlife displays a large selection of exotic animals from five continents, including a number of rare species.

Petersen, and his wife Amy, moved to the area from Wisconsin after purchasing the building (which was formerly a rock shop) in October of last year before spending the next six months renovating it before moving in their more than 200 taxidermied animals.

“It was getting to the point where our house in Wisconsin was getting a little overcrowded,” Mark said. “We wanted to find a place where we could display our collection properly and give people who might not have otherwise gotten the chance the opportunity to see these animals.”

The Petersen’s collection ranges from smaller animals like foxes and bobcats, to large animals, like a rhinos, a giraffe and a variety of elk. According to Petersen, his most popular specimens include a lion, a crocodile, a hippo and a bongo, all from Africa.

Mark grew up hunting small game and fishing but decided to try his hand at hunting larger, exotic animals after reading about the sport in magazines. While he may have started slowly, his collection has grown steadily over the years.

“It was those magazines that lit the fuse for me. Now, there always seems to be new places and different animals to hunt and collect,” he said. “It may have started slow, but it has turned into an avalanche.”

Mark’s first exotic hunt came when he was 21, a trip to Quebec to hunt caribou. Finding no friends that were willing to make the trip with him, he wound up selling his truck to finance the excursion and never regretted it.

“My friends thought I was nuts going out in the middle of nowhere for a hunt, but it was worth it.” He said. “Now, it doesn’t seem like all that far to go for a hunt anymore.”

Since that first hunt, Mark has hunted in Asia, Europe, Australia and Africa. In fact, Mark has visited Africa 16 times during his more that 50 hunts over the past three decades.

“Some places are a bit rougher than others, but Africa is always amazing,” he said about his favorite continent. “There are some places that are not for everyone, but I love it.”

Mark is not the only one who has brought back trophies, he says that more than 20 animals in the museum were taken by Amy, who grew up hunting with her family in British Columbia.

While Mark says the new museum has gotten a mostly good response, he has had to deal with a few people who do not agree with his stance on exotic animal hunting.

“What we do here is about much more than just hunting. Hunting is actually a very small part of it. A lot of people think exotic hunters are just running around knocking things over and that is about as far from the truth as you can get,” he said. “There are animals in here that most people would otherwise never get to see in their lifetimes. We try to represent them as best we can in their natural state. People should realize that real hunters are trying to preserve these animals. A large amount of the money raised from hunting these animals is spent to help maintain healthy populations.”

While Mark says he knows not everyone will agree with his stance on exotic hunting, he hopes that everyone can enjoy what his museum has to offer.

“When people come in, I hope they can appreciate the form of art that we display. It’s much more than just a bunch of dead animals on the wall. There’s a story behind each one, from where it was taken and the culture of the people who live in those places,” he said. “We try to educate everyone as to what conservation is really about. If we can do that and enlighten people in a way that helps them be more open minded as to what hunting and conservation are all about, then we feel we have done our job.”