A work group has been established to determine next steps for the taxidermy collection at the Delbridge Museum of Natural History.
Last month, the Sioux Falls museum closed due to safety concerns over its arsenic-contaminated mounts.
The closure sparked pushback from the public and some city council members. Mayor Paul TenHaken said the city heard public's concern and is responding.
He assembled to work group with city leaders, a zoo board member, parks and recreation representatives and community members.
"While we know the mounts cannot stay on the Great Plains Zoo's campus in their current condition, we ultimately need the city council to declare the collection surplus to move forward in any capacity," said TenHaken.
Declaring a surplus would allow the city to remove the collection from display. Typically, a surplus declaration would allow the city to sell, trade, loan or dispose of the property. Under South Dakota law, any museum collection cannot be destroyed or sold. It can only be gifted to a nonprofit that agrees to display or store the collection in the state of South Dakota.
The work group aims to have a plan developed for the collection by the end of the year.
