Zoological museum

The official opening of the museum took place in 1995. Currently, representative material is collected with the help of GASU teachers and students. It characterizes the biodiversity of the Altai according to three groups: mammals, birds, and day butterflies.

The exhibits of protected species of animals (snow leopard, argali, saker falcon, etc.) possess the greatest value, donated to the museum after confiscation from poachers.

The collection of mammals totals 216 skulls from 24 different kinds of predatory mammals and rodents (not including murine species) living in the region, including a unique selection of skulls of a snow leopard and the Altai population of manul cats. There are a number of skulls, including those of a brown bear, a wolf, a fox, a badger, a glutton, a sable, and other hunting-trade animals found in the Altai. Horns of 9 kinds of hoofed animals, including 7 skulls and horns of the argali, are presented in the collection. The visitors can also see stuffed animals of 18 kinds of large and average kinds of mammals, bones and skulls of many small mammals of the Altai, and the skins of hunting-trade mammals.

The collection of stuffed animals of birds consists of more than 100 species, including a number of "exotic" ones: a flamingo, a pink pelican, etc. The collection of birds almost completely covers all species of birds of the Altai and includes more than 200 kinds.

The collection of day butterflies totals about 180 species (more than 4 000 units) that inhabit the territory of Altai. It also has individual exhibits of some tropical, subtropical, and European kinds of butterflies.

The museum has two art dioramas reflecting the specificity of the animal population of two geographical provinces of Altai: Northeast and Southeast.

A constantly updated database functions in the zoological museum. It gives information about the number of mammals, birds and day butterflies in Altai. The museum also hosts a club where students are trained in the basics of taxidermy.

Updated 07.10.2019 by N. Yurkova