OUR NEW RELATIONSHIP WITH ANIMALS

Today, we think very differently about animals and how humans treat them, compared to even 20 or 30 years go. Captive animals in circuses are a thing of the past and most zoos have active breeding programmes to try to ensure that no animal will ever go extinct again because of humans.

This is why museum collections are really important too. They show us how far we have come and how we can avoid making the same mistakes again Even taxidermy collections are important. They show us animals that are now extinct or endangered, and we can study them without anyone killing any more of them.

There are lots of projects protecting wildlife and habitats:

It is illegal to buy and sell ivory. To help stop poaching of elephants, Lancaster University are using some of our historic ivory objects from the collection (like the frog and tortoise tug-o-war figurine above) to build a database of old ivory.

This will help authorities in Africa to identify whether seized ivory is old or new and where it comes from.

They are using a special scientific technique called Raman Spectroscopy!

Escape The Maze

Mole has invited to to a lunch of slugs and earthworms. Can you follow her tunnels to find mole's home?

OSTRICH BEAR

EMILY WILLIAMSON

ROMAN SNAIL

CHAFFINCH LYNX

TAXIDERMY AUK

DOLPHIN

CHIMPANZEE RSPB

PEACOCK

PAW PRINT ELK

BROWN BEAR