Capitol exhibit highlights Topaz stories, Tracy Aviary takes precautions against bird flu

On this week’s episode of “In the Hive…”

A new exhibit on the third floor of the Utah State Capitol features stories of the survivors of the Topaz War Relocation Center, the concentration camp in central Utah that housed more than 11,000 Japanese Americans during World War II.

The exhibit, sponsored by the San Franciso-based Friends of the Topaz Museum in partnership with Utah’s Topaz Museum, features 31 entries, accompanied by photographs from family collections, the National Archives, and historical societies — as well as artifacts from Topaz.

At an opening reception, survivors and their family members described life in the camp and offered their perspective on the lesson of Topaz for present-day America.

Later in the show, we tour Tracy Aviary to learn about the precautions being taken to protect birds — including some species extinct in the wild — from an especially virulent strain of Avian Influenza.