A zoological museum is a museum primarily focused on collecting, displaying, and researching various animal specimens. In zoological museums, visitors can learn about the characteristics, habits, and habitats of different animal species. Zoological museums typically display animals according to different classification methods, such as mammals, birds, and reptiles. The establishment of zoological museums aims to increase public understanding and awareness of the animal world. They not only popularize scientific knowledge but also strengthen people's awareness of protecting wildlife and maintaining ecological balance. Many zoological museums also serve as scientific research and teaching facilities, becoming experimental and teaching bases for many research institutions and schools. This article lists ten of the most famous zoological museums, including the National Zoological Museum of China and the Giant Panda Museum. Take your children to visit them sometime!
1. Giant Panda Museum
The Giant Panda Museum, located within the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding, is the world's earliest and only specialized animal museum dedicated to rare and endangered wild animals. Renowned for its exceptionally high profile, the museum currently displays not only giant pandas but also a butterfly pavilion and a vertebrate pavilion. These three pavilions are relatively independent yet interconnected, covering a total area of nearly 4,000 square meters. In addition, the museum houses over 800 precious photographs, thousands of documents, and more than 12,450 specimens of over 2,140 species. There is also a large ecological enclosure covering 300 square meters. The Giant Panda Museum comprehensively showcases all the achievements of human understanding, observation, and research on giant pandas.
Address: Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding, No. 1375, Panda Avenue, North Third Ring Road, Chenghua District, Chengdu, Sichuan Province.
2. National Zoological Museum
The National Zoological Museum of China is a world-renowned, Asia's largest, and most comprehensive center for the systematic classification and evolution of animals. With a total building area of 7,300 square meters, the museum employs modern thematic exhibition methods, showcasing knowledge from multiple disciplines including natural and human sciences. It features ten independent exhibition halls dedicated to invertebrates, birds, endangered animals, butterflies, insects, and more. Here, you can admire over 5,000 species and more than 5.3 million exhibits, including precious specimens from over twenty countries, allowing you to witness the magnificence of these rare animals.
Address: No. 5, Courtyard 1, Beichen West Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing.
3. Kunming Zoological Museum
The Kunming Zoological Museum, located at No. 32 Jiaochang East Road, Kunming, Yunnan Province, within the campus of the Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, is the largest and most comprehensive animal specimen museum in Southwest my country, boasting the most extensive collection of animal specimens on public display in the country. The museum covers an area of 7,350 square meters and currently houses over 800,000 animal specimens of various species, including mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles, fish, and insects. Among these are over 5,161 type specimens representing more than 500 species/subspecies, covering almost all animal species from Yunnan and surrounding areas, with a significant number of rare and endangered species. This makes the Kunming Zoological Museum one of the largest and most distinctive specialized animal museums in Southwest China.
Address: Wuhua District, Kunming City, Yunnan Province.
4. National Taiwan University Zoological Museum
The Zoological Museum of National Taiwan University, founded in 1928, is located at No. 237, Zhoushan Rd., Da'an Dist., Taipei City, Taiwan. Since its time at Taipei Imperial University, the museum has amassed a vast collection of precious animal specimens, documenting animal species from Taiwan, Southeast Asia, and neighboring regions such as Hainan Island. These include birds, mammals, shellfish, corals, and annelids. Currently, the museum's collection exceeds 20,000 specimens. It also houses skeletal specimens of large animals, such as ostriches and Malayan tapirs. The museum also displays skeletal specimens of minke whales and pilot whales. Under the unified theme of "sound" in new scientific research, these specimens reveal the diverse animal instincts and ecological characteristics of these animals.
Address: No. 237, Zhoushan Road, Da'an District, Taipei City, Taiwan Province.
5. Rare Animal Museum, Nanjing Normal University
The Zoological Museum of Nanjing Normal University is the largest, most comprehensive, and most abundant zoological museum in Jiangsu Province, and the only place displaying large animal specimens. This museum embodies the efforts of generations of experts and scholars at Nanjing Normal University over the past century, meticulously collecting, purchasing, exchanging, preserving, and carefully crafting various animal and plant specimens based on their natural appearance. Many of the specimens on display are first- or second-class protected or endangered animals in my country, including large aquatic animals such as dolphins, baiji dolphins, baleen whales, sharks, Chinese sturgeon, seals, finless porpoises, and the five species of sea turtles currently found in my country. In addition, the museum displays a very rich collection of mammal and reptile specimens, and also covers all large plant species in Jiangsu Province and East China, with lichens and mosses being the most comprehensive and distinctive.
Address: South side of Nanjing Normal University campus, Ninghai Road, Gulou District, Nanjing City, Jiangsu Province.
6. Northwest A&F University Zoological Museum
Located within the Northwest A&F University in Shaanxi Province, the museum boasts a total building area of 4,300 square meters. Prior to the establishment of Northwest A&F University, the original seven institutions (including Northwest Agricultural University) accumulated over 8,000 precious animal specimens through decades of teaching, research, and outreach efforts by several generations. Currently, the museum houses eight exhibition halls: Rare Animals, Pets and Ornamental Animals, Animal Structure and Function, Animal Breeding, Animal Diseases and Human Health, and Animal Biotechnology. These halls provide detailed information on the types, distribution, and numbers of nationally protected animals (Class I and II), as well as their environmental protection, physiological systems, and husbandry practices—making it a veritable modern encyclopedia of animals.
Address: No. 3, Taicheng Road, Yangling District, Xianyang City, Shaanxi Province, inside the Northwest A&F University Expo Park.
7. Jiangsu Qianhuang Senior High School Animal Museum
Founded in 1954, the museum covers an area of 1,000 square meters and was expanded in 1990. It houses over 2,500 specimens representing more than 1,700 species, including 37 species of Class I protected animals and 100 species of Class II protected animals in China. The museum's exhibits emphasize scientific accuracy, artistic appeal, and an ecological atmosphere, primarily focusing on the evolutionary history and classification of animals. Through textual and graphic descriptions, fossil specimens, and other exhibits, it highlights the history of animal evolution. The museum's basic exhibits include invertebrates (including insects), fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals, leaving a lasting impression on visitors.
Address: No. 2, East Hutang Broadcasting Road, Changzhou City, Jiangsu Province (within the school grounds).
8. Zoological Museum of Guangzhou No. 86 Middle School
The Zoological Museum of Guangzhou No. 86 Middle School is the only zoological museum in Guangdong Province. Originally a specimen room established in the early 1980s, it took 30 years of preparation to reach its current size. The museum displays rare animal specimens, including giant pandas, South China tigers, Chinese sturgeon, and Siberian tigers, totaling 168 specimens of various sizes, covering 5 classes and 31 orders. Among them are 24 species of national first-class protected animals and 49 species of national second-class protected animals. These specimens are displayed with realistic backgrounds, making them incredibly lifelike and breathtaking.
Address: No. 5, Dashadi West Road, Huangpu District, Guangzhou.
9. Beijing Milu Park Museum
The Beijing Milu Park Museum, located in the Nanhaizi Milu Park in Daxing District, Beijing, is a unique museum in China dedicated to the milu deer. The museum's main exhibits include sections on milu deer and nature, deer and culture, the milu park itself, a cemetery for extinct animals worldwide, and murals depicting the protection of life in the East. The Nanhaizi area was historically part of the imperial hunting grounds of the Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties, and is also the type locality of the milu deer and the site of its last extinction in China. The Beijing Milu Park Museum was established to facilitate the reintroduction of milu deer and for scientific research and public education. The museum boasts a long history and has become a national science education base and a national biodiversity conservation demonstration base. Furthermore, it has been designated as one of the ten "Beijing Environmental Education Bases," making it a highly educational museum.
Address: Jiuzhong Road, Jiugong Town, Daxing District, Beijing.
10. Wenzhou Jinzhou Zoological Museum
Wenzhou Jinzhou Zoological Museum, a privately-run museum approved by the Zhejiang Provincial Cultural Relics Bureau, was established in 2001. Located in Shuangkun Village, Lingkun Town, Longwan District, Wenzhou City, Zhejiang Province, it was founded by curator Liu Ming. Liu Ming has loved animals since childhood, and began learning taxidermy at the age of 13. His specimens have been supplied to numerous primary and secondary schools and collected by many renowned natural history museums and universities in China for exhibitions and research. For over 40 years, he has actively collected specimens, and the museum currently houses more than 7,000 species, totaling over 110,000 pieces. Among them are more than 50 species of national first-class protected animals and more than 200 species of national second-class protected animals. These specimens are exquisite and lifelike, making it a rare find among privately-run zoological museums in China.
Address: 100 meters west of Longchang Road, Dongtou District, Wenzhou City, Zhejiang Province
The ranking of China's top ten animal museums is primarily based on the scale of major animal-themed museums across the country and the rarity of their exhibits. This list is for reference only. If you have any questions, please feel free to leave a comment/discussion at the end.
