[Nhcoll-l] Disposing of Bird Teaching Specimens

[Makayla Dean]

Hi all,

We've recently culled about 1/3 of our ornithology teaching specimens because they were in exceptionally poor condition: heads smashed, wings/tails/feet ripped off, exceptionally poor preparation, etc. We have duplicates of the culled species in our teaching collection and none of the specimens have any type of data associated with them; they were prepared for outreach and teaching. We've gone through all of the institutional processes and paperwork to remove these specimens from the collection, but now we're stuck with what to actually do with them. To the best of our knowledge, the specimens were not prepared with any harmful compounds, such as arsenic, mercury, or lead. The species are not CITES or ESA listed, but are all protected under the MBTA.

We think the specimens are in too poor condition to be useful to any other educational institute, so we are looking for ways to dispose of the specimens. Does anyone have any advice on disposing of these specimens that isn't just tossing them into a dumpster?

Best,
Makayla


Makayla Dean | they/them

Manager, Zoology Collections & DNA Lab

Cincinnati Museum Center

1301 Western Avenue, Cincinnati, Ohio 45203
MDean at cincymuseum

C: (513) 549-6251

O: (513) 287-7000 ext 7307

cincymuseum.org
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