Walter Rothschild Zoological Museum
View of the oldest part of the museum; there are extensive buildings to the rear and left.
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| Established | 1889 |
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| Location | Tring, Hertfordshire, United Kingdom |
| Coordinates | 51°47′27″N 0°39′41″W / 51.790833°N 0.661368°W |
| Type | Mounted zoological specimens |
| Collection size | al least 4000 objects |
| Visitors | 108,000 |
| Director | Michael Dixon |
| Website | www |
The Natural History Museum at Tring was the private museum of Lionel Walter, 2nd Baron Rothschild; today it is under the control of the Natural History Museum. It houses one of the finest collections of stuffed mammals, birds, reptiles and insects in the United Kingdom. The museum was first known as the Walter Rothschild Zoological Museum; however, in April 2007 the Natural History Museum changed its name. The museum is located on Akeman Street, in Tring, Hertfordshire, UK.
The Natural History Museum at Tring was once the private museum of Lionel Walter, 2nd Baron Rothschild, and is located in the grounds of the former Rothschild family home of Tring Park. The building was constructed in 1889 to house his collection of mounted specimens and first opened to the public in 1892. The Rothschild family gave the Museum and its contents to the nation in 1937. Lionel Walter bred hybrids between zebras and horses (zebroids) and a hybrid foal is on display. He was frequently seen riding a zebra-drawn carriage. The museum's Zebra Cafe alludes to Lord Rothschild's love of zebras and has photographs of his trained zebras harnessed to open carriages.
The extensive collection, housed in several rooms, includes extinct animals and birds such as the quagga, thylacine, great auk and reconstructions of the moa and dodo. Oddities include hybrids and examples of abnormal coloration. The dogs display was relocated to the Rothschild Zoological Museum from the Natural History Museum, South Kensington, London after World War II. This shows how domestic dogs have changed shape due to selective breeding and includes the tiny Russian and Mexican lapdogs as well as famous racing greyhounds. The Museum has six galleries, each one of which houses a different set of animals. The first gallery contains birds, large carnivorans and primates, the second is used to show temporary exhibits, the third crocodilians, crustaceans, fishes, insects, large mammals and marine invertebrates, the fourth accommodates kangaroos and odd-toed ungulates, the fifth holds bovids, hippopotamuses, pigs and marine mammals, and finally the sixth gallery contains amphibians, bats, various British mammals, domestic dogs, ratites, lizards, snakes, turtles and small mammals. The Museum also contains a Discovery Room, designed for young children and the Rothschild Room which is a room set out to recreate the surroundings that the Rothschild family would have worked in. It became part of the Natural History Museum in 1937. In April 2007 its name was changed to the Natural History Museum at Tring.
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