There’s a new massive collections facility beneath the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, and it’s a macabre masterpiece. The site contains more dead animals than most of us could imagine,reports Colorado Public Radio. Over its 116-year history, the museum has amassed around one million zoology specimens.
Most are insects, but there are also around 70,000 birds and mammals. “It's taken years to move,” explains John Demboski, the museum's zoology curator. “A lot of the objects are very delicate.”
Nine years ago Denver voters passed a bond to help pay for the $70 million museum expansion, which included the new facility. The collections will become even more important as climate change and land development threaten biodiversity in Rocky Mountain ecosystems. Over the next few months, the museum's earth science and anthropology collection will also be brought into the new area.
