Yesterday, a Pre-IB group went to the wonderful Natural History Museum at Tring as part of their study of animals in their Biology module. The students were wowed by the sheer number and diversity of animal specimens on display - the bird collections alone comprise of more than 1,150,000 specimens and there are over 700,000 skin specimens including items collected from Charles Darwin’s Galapagos journeys and Captain Cook’s voyages!
These remarkable collections were once the private passion of its eccentric founder, Lionel Walter, 2nd Baron Rothschild, whose interest in natural history was not restricted to museum specimens. He kept an astonishing variety of animals in the grounds around the Museum and in Tring Park, including zebras, a tame wolf, rheas, kangaroos, kiwis, cassowaries and giant tortoises. He even drove a team of zebras into the forecourt of Buckingham Palace!
