[Nhcoll-l] Deaccessioning Taxidermy

[Karen Morton]

Dear List Members,

After several decades of our predecessors collecting specimens without a real collection plan , we are faced with an abundance of taxidermy shoulder mounts that are eating up valuable collection storage space.  The museum is exploring its options for deaccession and I would like to get the community's advice on the latest best practices regarding deaccessioning.  Has anyone out there deaccessioned taxidermy lately?  Our mounts consist of specimens from North America, Africa, and Asia.

We already have a Deaccession policy in our Collection Management Policy, so we have the decision-making and approval procedures already in place, so I am interested in what others have done to actually dispose of their mounts.  My understanding has always been that the first option is to offer specimens to other educational or research non-profit institutions, who can add them to their collections, either as a donation or as an exchange for specimens we need.  Second, if specimens are legal to sell, then they could be put up for public auction with all proceeds going back into the collections.  A third option is to return specimens to the original donor, and the final option is to destroy the specimens entirely.

If there any other options for deaccessioning regarding taxidermy mounts only, I would love the hear about them.  And I know that there are a lot of legal issues regarding specimens from other countries, CITES specimens, as well as specimens that were likely treated with arsenic due to their age.  We have already done a lot of research on these issues but I welcome any advice and additional resources that you want to throw my way.  I want to leave no stone unturned!

Thank you for your time.

Respectfully,
KAREN MORTON
Collections Manager
Perot Museum of Nature and Science
P 214.756.5722 | karen.morton at perotmuseum.org<mailto:karen.morton at perotmuseum.org>

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