The Wildlife Museum at UMC is growing and contains many specimens from the region. The collections are currently undergoing growth as part of the new Wildlife Management program at UMC. The collections contain birds, mammals, and fishes; principally from the upper Great Plains. The Mission of the Wildlife Museum is to:
 | Promote discovery and understanding of the natural world |
| Offer a repository of collections dedicated to representing the biological diversity of the region |
| Support the teaching mission of the Natural Resources Department and the University of Minnesota |
| Prepare students in the procedures used in museum curation, including preparing specimens, recording information, cataloging materials, and organizing and recording the cataloged information. |
| Support Outreach activities throughout the state |
| Provide a display for local and regional visitors |
The Wildlife Museum is open to the public by appointment during regular business hours. Children under the age of 12 must be accompanied by an adult. If you are interested in visiting UMC or the Wildlife Museum, please contact the curators, Dr. John Loegering (218-281-8132, jloegeri@umn.edu) or Laura Bell (218-281-8131, lbell@umn.edu). The Wildlife Museum is located at 200 Owen Hall, for a campus map. For a Minnesota map with the location of the University of Minnesota Crookston, or a local area Crookston map.
We welcome the donations of specimens to be prepared and deposited in the UMC Wildlife Museum. We welcome both previously prepared specimens, as well as fresh biological material. The museum holds appropriate state and federal salvage permits; however, several state and federal laws apply to the recovery of animals inadvertently killed (e.g., roadkills, window or powerline collisions, etc.). If you have a potential donation, please contact the curator as soon as possible, prior to moving the animal. We do NOT have the facilities or expertise to assist injured wildlife.
The wildlife museum was established in 1969 by W. Daniel Svedarsky. The collection contains specimens from as early as 1904; however, most specimens have been prepared since 1995. In 1998, a commercial freeze-dryer was acquired to assist in preparing smaller specimens. A dermestid beetle colony (Family Dermestidae) was established in 2002 to aid in bolstering the collection of skeletal material. There are approximately 1200 individual specimens (March 2008).
The museum's curator is Dr. John Loegering, assisted by Laura E. Bell. As the curators they check in donations, assigns specimens to be prepared or prepare them, enters specimens into the database, and arranges visitations to the museum. Please contact either John or Laura if you have any questions about the museum (contact information is in the paragraph above on visitation).
Below you will find links that we thought you might find useful. Including links to the main campus of the University of Minnesota.
University of Minnesota-Crookston
| UMC Home Page |
| Natural Resources Department |
| Student Chapter of The Wildlife Society |
| Natural Resources Club |
University of Minnesota-Twin Cities
| University of Minnesota |
| Natural Resources |
Museum Links
| |
|
The National Museum of Natural History- Smithsonian Institute (USNM) |
Go directly to the USNM Mammal Collection
| |
| Animal diversity web |