Zoological Museum

St. Petersburg's impressive zoological collection consists of over 17 million species, although only 500 thousand species can be displayed in the museum's current 19^th century home. Exhibits range from enormous dinosaur, mammoths and whale skeletons to stuffed animals and birds and a unique collection of butterflies. Although the museum's exhibits are rather low-tech and old-fashioned, future funding projects hope to liven up the museum with more interactive displays and multimedia presentations.

The museum developed from the original zoological collection of the Kunstkammer, which was established in 1832 and opened to the public in 1838. Since 1898 the museum has occupied its current location, which previously housed part of the city's Sea Port Authorities. Today the turreted building of the Zoological Museum blends beautifully with the architectural ensemble of the Strelka of Vasilyevsky Island. Many locals call this district of St. Petersburg the "Museum Town" due to the large number of museums concentrated in the area (the Navy Museum, the Ethnography of the World Museum a.k.a. the Kunstkammer etc.).