Wandering Camera

Album 237
(Translated by
Maxim Shablygin)

 

Zoological museum we're visiting today is located at the spit of Vasilyevskiy Island in the southern warehouse of Stock Exchange (yellow building on the left from Stock Exchange itself).

 

According to published sources the southern warehouse was the first facility in Russia expressly appointed for exhibitions. The building was constructed in 1826-1832 under the project of architect I.F. Lukini.
Zoological museum was founded basing on the collection of Kunstkamera of Peter the Great (year 1714).

In 1832 after the proposal of academician F.F. Brandt the collection has been evolved to separate museum opened in 1838.

In 1896 the museum was transferred into the southern warehouse building, where it is located nowadays.

About 40 thousand animal species can be seen in the museum.
Scientific stocks include approx. 15 million exhibits.

We're just walking through the halls and taking some pictures.

"Blue Whale
balaenoptera musculus l.

USSR: Baltic, Barents, White, Bering, Japanese Seas and Sea of Okhotsk: - ocean water area from Arctic to Antarctic.

The most massive animal living in the present time and ever existed. Maximum length is 35 meters, weight - up to 150 tons. Foodstuff is based on plankton extracted by filtering system that consists of 360-400 pairs of triangle corneous plates fringed along the inner edge (whalebone).

In recent times was an important trade object. Nowadays hunting is prohibited in order to avoid disappearance of these species. The overall head quantity worldwide in 1979 didn't exceed 15000.

Exposition shows skeleton, whalebone plates and reduced model of appearance."
 

Walrus at the top.
Down left - northern sea elephant.
Whale skeleton in the background (we approached from the opposite side).
"Rhinobatus halavi (Forskal)

Pacific Ocean, near China shores, Malay Archipelago and Australia, Indian Ocean, Red Sea, western coast of Africa. Viviparous. Length up to 2 meters."

That's how the real 'halyava' looks indeed. :-) (Play on words: in Russian "halyava" means "freebie").

"Headfish
Mola mola linnaeus

All seas of temperate and tropic zones. Length more than 3 meters, weight up to 1000 kg. The most fertile among fishes - spawns about 300 million roe corns."

Upper board:

"Small-teeth sawfish
Pristis microdon Latham

Tropic water areas of Atlantic, Indian and western part of Pacific oceans. Length up to 4,6 meters."

Lower board:

"Long-teeth sawfish
Pristis pectinatus Latham

Tropical and subtropical seas. Length up to 4,5 meters and more."
 

Corals
Polar bears
Penguins
Wolfs
Mammoths
Don't remember exactly, but seems like owl.

It is quite big, by the way.
If you meet it in forest, effect is guaranteed. :)

And these animals reminded me an old cartoon about Mumi-Troll.
However I didn't see it yet during probably last 10 years on TV.
An animator must have been watching a lot of "Inside the Animal World" (Russian famous TV-show about animals).
Lions are natural (not painted I mean). But the background with trees is rather painted.

Impressive sight.

Crocodile(s)
Our short tour through Zoological museum is over.

Please continue yourself. :)


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