Samples on the brink of elimination
The Zoological Museum of the Biology Institute at the National Academy of Sciences is facing serious financial problems. The last time the museum received government assistance was during the years of the Soviet Union.
"The museum has huge financial problems because it is not documented as a museum and is simply a part of the structure of the NAS," President of the "Bird Lovers Center" NGO Silva Adamyan told "A1+" today.
According to the bird lover, the museum must obtain its own status to be in a better situation. The museum features 250 types of birds, 30 types of mammals, as well as numerous types of snakes and reptiles. There are also samples of animals in the Red Book or from Armenia's nature. However, according to Silva Adamyan, those samples are on the brink of elimination.
Moths cause a serious threat to the museum's samples. The last time the museum received a dissolvent to preserve the samples was in 2005. Many samples are almost eliminated, but the museum administration hopes to save them through funding.
"We are slowly losing them because we have no chance to protect the museum," says the NGO president.
Although entrance is free, there are few visitors and many of them put 1,000 or 2,000 drams in the box placed in front of the museum with the hope that that money will help the museum preserve the unique samples.
