An inside look at the animals behind Parliament’s walls (no, not those ones)

OTTAWA — While most of us are aware of the antics of the animals inside the walls of Parliament, in this video we introduce you to the critters that live just outside.

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Parliament Hill sits atop a limestone cliff surrounded by 25 acres of forested land adjacent to the Ottawa River.

Its natural setting makes our seat of government unique in G7 capital cities. Directly behind Parliament is a steep, wild and tree-covered hill that drops directly into a major and very clean river, the Ottawa.

The mighty Ottawa River is both one of Canada’s greatest and cleanest major rivers. It has never hosted significant industrial activity, except for its historic forestry industry and the Chalk River nuclear research facility in Deep River. The river’s ecological health is demonstrated by the many, many reptiles and amphibians that live there. Both of those species are bellwethers for pollution, and they are abundant around Parliament Hill.

To understand and see what beasts are living in these amazing natural environs, we asked scientists from the Canada Museum of Nature to show you a small part of their vast natural collection.

Much of the Nature Museum’s collection lives at the Natural Heritage Campus in Gatineau. The scientists describe this modern, non-public building as being the dimensions of six olympic-sized pools. The campus houses natural world specimens carefully stored in climate controlled rooms. Scientists from across the world use this collection to study our fauna, some of it more than a century old. Big and small, fish and fowl, the campus also boasts the world’s largest collection of polar ear parts.

Watch this video and get as excited about these creepy crawlies as the scientists are.

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