Natural History Museum of Zimbabwe, Scientific museum in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe
The Natural History Museum of Zimbabwe on Leopold Takawira Avenue in Bulawayo was designed by architect James Whalley and opened in 1964. Its nine public galleries display minerals, fossils and mounted wildlife, including the second largest mounted elephant in the world. A walk-through mine and the Mennell Gallery show Zimbabwe's geology and dinosaurs.
The institution started in 1902 within the Bulawayo Public Library and moved to its current standalone building in 1964. The relocation allowed the collections to grow and reach more visitors in dedicated gallery spaces.
The museum serves as a center for natural sciences research through eight departments covering disciplines from arachnology to paleontology.
The museum stands on Leopold Takawira Avenue in Bulawayo, with nine public display galleries, a 120-seat lecture hall and a cafeteria. A walk-through mine in the Mennell Gallery lets visitors feel a typical Zimbabwean mine. The special library, begun in 1902, holds geological maps of Zimbabwe and photographs.
The museum's library opened with the institution in 1902 and holds geological maps of Zimbabwe alongside scientific books, journals and photographs. The entomology department, founded in 1911, keeps over 5 million insect specimens, most of them in the George Arnold Entomological laboratory rather than on display.
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