Türkiye’s first zoology museum to reopen

ISTANBUL

Türkiye’s first zoology museum will be reopened seven years later after being relocated due to earthquake risk.

In 2105, a demolition decision was taken for the museum, which was opened in Istanbul’s Beyazıt districts in 1933.

Within the scope of the decision, the museum’s collections were taken under protection in the warehouses of Istanbul University for seven years.

Some of the samples were covered with layers of dust, as these collections were kept indoors for seven years, Fatih Dikmen stated, a member of Istanbul University’s Biology Department.

“Even breaks appeared on the samples while moving. We have inherited the heritage and aim to improve it,” he explained.

Visitors will be able to see the animal samples from various continents, where they do not have a chance to go, Dikmen added.

There will be two areas comprising exhibition and collection areas, while the exhibition area will host kangaroo, hippopotamus and elephant skulls, tapir skeletons, and examples of some species belonging to different terrestrial continents.

Some of the bird samples were brought in their special cabinets from Yıldız Palace in the Beşiktaş district.

The museum, home to 2,034 species from reptiles to invertebrates, will reopen to visit in November.