Zoologicum Bogoriense Has More Than 2 Million Specimens

TheIndonesia.co - The Zoologicum Bogoriense Museum owned by the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) has collected more than two million DNA samples of wildlife species in Indonesia and aims to add more to its collections.

Collection manager at the museum Nova Mujiono said the importance of DNA samples cannot be overstated as they serve some very key functions in science.

“DNA collection is very important because it doesn’t only support animal’s identification process, but it also helps to create an accurate genetic resource mapping,” Mujiono said on Wednesday, January 19, as reported by Antara.

Currently, Zoologicum Bogoriense is home to 2,853,473 specimens, and additions will continue to be made to the collection from recent and future research activities.

Collection activity for DNA material in in the museum first started in 1997, and as of October 5, 2021, it has collected a number of specimen groups, including 42,617 mammals, 37,429 birds (aves), 26,268 fish, 32,648 amphibians, 22,441 reptiles, 24,819 molluscs, 5,617 crustaceans, 2,644,839 insects, 1319 endoparasitic acari, 12,001 ectoparasites, 2,673 collembola 144 chilopods, and 658 diplopods.

The specimen collection is reference collection of international standards and have become Indonesia’s important and valuable assets. Therefore, they are managed in accordance to international standards on museum management.

Zoologicum Bogoriense has both dried and wet specimens. Dried specimens can be in a form of skin, feathers, and bones or skulls. Meanwhile, wet specimens are tissues or organs stored in alcohol.

The specimens were collected differently, including from exploration by researchers, gift from institutions or individuals, collections owned by Natural Resources Conservation, or confiscated items from animal quarantine.

Located in Cibinong Science Center – Botanical Garden (CSC-BG) in Cibinong, Bogor, West Java, Zoologicum Bogoriense Museum was founded by a German agricultural zoologist JC Koningsberger in 1894. At the time, he was working in Bogor Botanical Garden and was in charge to collect and study insects.