Fish & Wildlife Museum | Bolack Museum Foundation

Tom Bolack’s Museum of Fish and Wildlife

One of the largest private wildlife collections in the United States, featuring approximately 2,500 specimens from six continents displayed in natural habitat settings.

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A World of Wildlife Under One Roof

Tom Bolack’s Museum of Fish and Wildlife brings together specimens from every corner of the globe, organized by geographic region and displayed in settings that recreate their natural environments. Visitors move through galleries dedicated to North America, Africa, the Arctic, Asia, Australia, and the ocean, encountering animals they may never see anywhere else.

The collection is the life’s work of Tom Bolack, who spent decades traveling the world on hunting and fishing expeditions. What started as trophies displayed in his den eventually grew into a museum that has welcomed generations of visitors, from local students to tourists from across the country. Tom earned the Big Five Award, recognizing completion of some of the most challenging hunts undertaken on foot: rhino, lion, Cape buffalo, leopard, and elephant. The mounts representing these animals are positioned at their actual living height, giving visitors an accurate sense of scale that photographs cannot convey.

Each exhibit tells a story. The animals are not simply mounted on walls; they are posed in natural settings with painted backdrops and environmental details that show how they lived in the wild. A full giraffe stretches upward to feed from a tree branch. Predators and prey share space in African savanna scenes. Arctic creatures stand amid simulated snow and ice.

The collection extends beyond modern wildlife. Prehistoric specimens including a mastodon skull and dinosaur fossils are displayed alongside the taxidermy mounts, giving visitors a sense of natural history that reaches back millions of years.

Notable Exhibits

Exhibits You Won’t See Anywhere Else

Several specimens in the collection held world records at the time they were acquired.

The Polar Bear

This massive Arctic predator was once the largest polar bear on record. It has since been surpassed by roughly half an inch by a specimen now displayed at the Alaska State Capitol, but it remains one of the most impressive polar bears you will ever encounter.

The Bengal Tiger

Another former world-record holder, this tiger represents the peak of Tom Bolack’s trophy hunting achievements and remains a centerpiece of the Asian gallery.This massive Arctic predator was once the largest polar bear on record. It has since been surpassed by roughly half an inch by a specimen now displayed at the Alaska State Capitol, but it remains one of the most impressive polar bears you will ever encounter.

The Man-Eating Crocodile

This exhibit has a story unlike any other in the museum. Tom Bolack was in Africa on a hunting expedition when word arrived from a distant village. Women had been attacked and killed while washing clothes at the river, and the villagers specifically requested Tom’s and another hunter’s help. They tracked the crocodile at night from a canoe, and when the animal was later examined, it was found to be extremely old and contained five necklaces from the women it had killed. The crocodile now rests in a naturalistic river setting, weighing between 375 and 475 pounds even after taxidermy

THE MARINE ROOM

A Life-Size Aquarium Experience

Later in life, when big game hunting became more physically challenging, Tom Bolack turned his attention to the ocean. He chartered boats for week-long fishing expeditions to Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, returning with specimens that would eventually fill an entire wing of the museum.

The marine room presents a life-size aquarium effect, with sharks, fish, and other ocean creatures displayed as if suspended in water. A great white shark dominates the space, surrounded by numerous other species. Visitors often describe this room as one of the most unexpected and memorable parts of the museum.

ORIGINS

How the Museum Began

The collection started in Tom Bolack’s personal residence at 1010 North Dustin in Farmington. As his trophies accumulated, they began to fill the den and overflow into other rooms. His wife Alice, a private person, was not enthusiastic about strangers wandering through her home to see the exhibits.

Tom eventually moved the collection to the B Square Ranch, where he could welcome visitors without disrupting his family’s privacy. By the early 1960s, local schools were bringing busloads of students to tour the growing museum. Tom greeted them personally, asked about their favorite exhibits, and cooked hamburgers and hot dogs on the grill for lunch.

The museum underwent a major expansion in the late 1990s with new galleries and a redesigned layout that organized the collection by geographic region.

A MESSAGE OF CONSERVATION

Preserving What Was and What Can Be

The wildlife museum carries an important message about conservation.

Some of the species on display were plentiful when Tom Bolack hunted them decades ago but are now considered endangered. Others, like the albino water buffalo, were donated to the museum specifically so they could be preserved and displayed for future generations. Multiple parties were involved in arranging that particular donation.

Tom understood that the world was changing. He saw his collection not as a celebration of hunting, but as a record of wildlife that future generations might never otherwise encounter. The museum preserves these animals so that visitors can appreciate what exists in nature and understand why conservation matters.

Visit the Museum of Fish and Wildlife

Open Monday–Saturday, 9:00 AM – 3:00 PM Mountain Time
Free Admission
B Square Ranch, Farmington, NM (505) 325-4275

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