The Delbridge Museum of Natural History houses a collection of over 150 mounted specimens from around the world. All of the animals in the museum were hunted legally during the 1940's through the early 1970's. Unfortunately, illegal hunting practices and loss of habitat has caused many of the animals to become endangered, making the collection in the museum irreplaceable.
Cleanliness is very important, especially in a natural history museum.
Most of the animals in the Delbridge Museum are dusted on a weekly basis to keep them insect free and looking as natural as possible. Some of the larger specimens, like this giraffe, are dusted twice monthly. Climate is a critical issue when caring for the museum. Uncontrollable humidity levels and temperature variations during past storage have caused some of the specimens to show signs of climatic stress. Here museum staff checks the condition of our gorilla.