ST. GEORGE — Nine-year-old Burgon Jensen of Midvale was in awe Saturday as she toured the Rosenbruch World Wildlife Museum.

"What's that?" Jensen said as the museum's lights dimmed and the sounds of a passing storm crashed around her.

Many of the sights and sounds of Alaska, Africa, Asia and Australia, including a cascading waterfall tucked among stone cliffs, are all inside the wildlife museum at the Dixie Center, 1835 Convention Center Drive.

Nearly 180 animals, such as an African leopard, ostrich, giraffe and zebra, pose in suspended animation on a dusting of sand. Others, such as reindeer, mountain sheep and musk-ox, stand mute atop a massive man-made mountain whose path keeps visitors moving ever upward.

Jensen, whose sight is limited, especially enjoyed the hands-on children's room and the Safari Club International traveling exhibit, Sensory Safari, parked outside.

One of her favorite moments was being able to touch some of the animals, including the teeth of a bear and the hair of a wild boar.

"It felt like my brother's hair," Jensen said with a giggle, "he spikes up his hair like that."

The Rosenbruch Foundation, led by professional hunting guides Jimmie and Mary Ann Rosenbruch, is footing the majority of the museum's $3.7 million cost. Other contributors include St. George City and Washington County, which share an $800,000 community improvement bond. Restaurant tax revenues will be used to repay that bond.

Don Hague, director emeritus of the University of Utah's Museum of Natural History, said the museum serves a great purpose.

"This is very unique," Hague said at the museum's dedication earlier in the week. "To get these different kinds of entities working together like this is quite difficult. This is a wonderful opportunity for educating our schoolchildren."

The museum is also developing an outreach program that will take a piece of the museum to area students.

"Somebody had a lot of fun putting this together," said Janat Laws of St. George, who was visiting the museum with friends. "I'll be back. I have a sister who loves this stuff. I'll never get her out of here."

Laws, whose father was a taxidermist in Kanab, said she recognized many of the animals and knows the difficulty of preparing each animal for display.

"It isn't as easy as some may think," she said.

Tyler Cooper, 9, of Ivins, said he thought the museum was pretty cool, too.

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"But I would rather have them moving," he said as he played with a toy in the museum gift shop.

On the other hand, Chelsie Washburn, 2 1/2 years old, of Kaysville, seemed glad the noisy animals weren't moving.

"Daddy," she said with rounded eyes and a tug of her father Destry's leg, "is that a dinosaur?"

The museum is open Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and closes later in the evening on Mondays. Daily fees are $5.50 per adult and $2.50 per child (ages 3-12). Discounts and family packages are available. Call 435-656-0033 for more information.

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