by Grady Mitchell | Rewilding is a special new exhibit at the Museum of Vancouver that is being guest curated by J.B. MacKinnon, author of the 100-Mile Diet. While a typical museum exhibit studies the history of a place through its people, Rewilding explores the history of Vancouver through the animal species that live, or have lived, in and around the city. MacKinnon calls it an “historical ecology,” and it was inspired by his latest book, The Once and Future World.

As Vancouver’s population grew and the city’s footprint expanded, the animals that citizens commonly encountered changed from large to small as species who failed to adapt were winnowed out. Think grizzlies to black bears, wolves to coyotes, and condors to ravens.

While telling that story, Rewilding challenges common misconceptions held by Vancouverites. Coyotes, for example, are not ancient Lower Mainland residents. They’re actually a recent addition to the city’s species list. They’ve only been roaming Vancouver parks and alleyways for about twenty years. Another surprising fact: Vancouver had no earthworms until the first European settlers brought them here.

The exhibit’s content is not just to simply show us the past, it also challenges us, as the name suggests, to incorporate some of that ecology back into the city, to think of Vancouver as a place where humans will change their habits to live peacefully alongside bears, or where neighbourhoods have creeks, rather than roads, running between their houses.

The exhibit opens on Thursday, February 27th, and runs for six months.

EVERYTHING SEEN IN VANCOUVER