What’s in that Cowpat?
Have you ever walked through Coe Fen or on Midsummer Common in Cambridge, looked at the cowpats and wondered what lived inside? Well now is your chance to find out! For Zoology Live 2021, we are launching Cowpats About Cambridge (and beyond). Inspired by the Cows About Cambridge sculpture trail, we are asking you to help us collect data on the animals living in cowpats. … Continue reading What’s in that Cowpat?
Animal I Spy: Animals with Spines
Can you tell an animal from its spines? Test your Animal I Spy skills with our game using animals from the Museum of Zoology. Do you have a favourite animal with spines that we’ve missed? Continue reading Animal I Spy: Animals with Spines
Conservation Success Stories
For the Earth Optimism Festival organised by the Cambridge Conservation Initiative this year, the Museum created a film of Conservation Success Stories based on specimens in our collections. It was fascinating and uplifting to hear these stories of actions people have taken that have benefited wildlife the world over from researchers and conservation practitioners involved with these projects. To celebrate International Day for Biological Diversity … Continue reading Conservation Success Stories
Endangered Species Day
To mark Endangered Species Day on Friday 21 May 2021, staff and volunteers at the Museum of Zoology have been writing about the endangered species on display in the galleries that hold stories important to them. Come and explore these amazing animals with us. Orangutan, Pongo pygmaeus Dr Ed Turner, Curator of Insects As Curator of Insects, selecting orangutans to write about might seem an … Continue reading Endangered Species Day
World Bee Day 2021
To celebrate World Bee Day 2021 our staff and volunteers have been filming the bees they see. Watch our video below to see what they found: Observing bee behaviour There’s lots of different types of bee behaviour, even in this short video. From hairy-footed flower bees digging to honey bees collecting pollen. Did you see the nomad bee trying to cut a blade of grass? … Continue reading World Bee Day 2021
Zoology Live! 30 June – 2 July 2021
Join us online for this year’s Zoology Live! Festival. We were live on YouTube at 7pm every evening from Wednesday 30 June to Friday 2 July. Missed it? Fear not – you can still catch up on all the livestreams. Just scroll down and you can find them in this blog post. You can also take part in our challenges all summer. This year we … Continue reading Zoology Live! 30 June – 2 July 2021
Animal I Spy: Green Animals
Can you tell the green animal from seeing just a smidgeon of it? Test your Animal I Spy skills with our game using animals from the Museum of Zoology. Do you have a favourite green animal that we’ve missed? Visit again in two weeks, when we explore animals with spines in the Museum. Continue reading Animal I Spy: Green Animals
Solace In Nature
May 10-16 2021 is Mental Health Awareness Week. Spending time in nature has been shown to have huge benefits for our mental health, reducing stress and anxiety as well as improving physical wellbeing. While being out in the wilds of the countryside, up high on a mountain or down by the sea provide us with wonderful experiences of the natural world, don’t despair if you … Continue reading Solace In Nature
Animal I Spy: Animals with a Shell
Can you tell the animal with a shell from seeing just a smidgeon of it? Test your Animal I Spy skills with our game using animals from the Museum of Zoology. Do you have a favourite animal with a shell that we’ve missed? Visit again in two weeks, when we explore green animals in the Museum. Continue reading Animal I Spy: Animals with a Shell
Dawn Chorus Day 2021
Sunday 2 May 2021 is International Dawn Chorus Day. To celebrate, we went out early one morning in late April to Coldham’s Common in Cambridge with ornithologist Dr Rob Pople to record the birds singing as the sun was rising. Here you can watch highlights of our dawn chorus walk, and listen to the main species singing with tips on how to recognise them. Why … Continue reading Dawn Chorus Day 2021
World Tapir Day: ‘Pin the Nose’ game
Today (April 27) is World Tapir Day, a day to celebrate these wonderous animals and learn a little about why we should be protecting them. What is a tapir? Tapir’s are large, herbivorous mammals that live in rainforests, grasslands, swamps and cloud forests. There are four modern species of tapir. The mountain tapir, Brazilian tapir and Baird’s tapir of South America, and the Malayan tapir … Continue reading World Tapir Day: ‘Pin the Nose’ game
Wildlife Diaries from the Botanic Garden: March 20-26
Welcome back to Wildlife Diaries. This is a collaboration between the Museum of Zoology and Cambridge University Botanic Garden, sharing the wildlife of the Garden as spring arrives. Catch up on last week’s post, filled with moths, cherry blossom about to bloom and birds collecting nesting materials , and the week before with with badgers, bats and more, and the first Wildlife Diaries post with … Continue reading Wildlife Diaries from the Botanic Garden: March 20-26
Sticky post
Animal Adventurers: the game
The natural world is full of stories to discover. Use the Museum of Zoology collection to explore habitats, complete puzzles and build a team of the animals you meet along the way. Before you begin: Grab a pencil and piece of paper so that you can record your favourite stories or animals while you play. Draw a picture of your ultimate animal team to share … Continue reading Animal Adventurers: the game
Five minutes in nature: Ringneck the blackbird
Museum Collections Manager Matt Lowe writes: The past 12 months has meant a lot more screen time, especially for a collections manager who has a never ending list of edits for a museum database that seems longer than, well…. a year under lockdown. Ordinarily, to give tired eyes a rest, we would look up from our screens to chat to colleagues, or go and double … Continue reading Five minutes in nature: Ringneck the blackbird
Wildlife Diaries from the Botanic Garden: March 13-19
Welcome back to Wildlife Diaries. This is a collaboration between the Museum of Zoology and Cambridge University Botanic Garden, sharing the wildlife of the Garden as spring arrives. Catch up on last week’s post, with badgers, bats and more, and the week before with its flowers and fragrances, hibernating ladybirds and singing robins. Remember to join us for a special livestream at 5pm on April … Continue reading Wildlife Diaries from the Botanic Garden: March 13-19
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