GÖTTINGEN: Collections in the Departments of “Wildlife Sciences” and “Forest Zoology and Forest Conservation”

Abstract

Both departments are parts of the Faculty of Forest Sciences and Forest Ecology within the Georg-August-University of Gottingen. Their fields of interest partly overlap which is reflected also in the composition of their scientific collections. The Department of Forest Zoology and Forest Conservation holds a comprehensive collection of the birds of Lower Saxony with about 500 specimens and the historical collection of W.G. Glimmann that comprises birds of prey, owls and wildfowl. Also the insect collection has a considerable historic value: some of the 35,000 specimens were collected by the famous entomologists J.T.C. Ratzeburg and A. Forster. According to the original focus of the Department of Wildlife Sciences, its collection comprises a huge selection of trophies, especially antlers or horns of typical game species. Of historic value are the obsolete game tag register of Germany and some relicts of the royal Hanoverian hunting court, which was dissolved in 1868. Currently, the collection is being rearranged to highlight the important roles that wild animals play in maintaining the functionality and resilience of ecosystems.