The Australian National Wildlife Collection (ANWC) is a collection of almost 200,000

zoological Zoology ( , ) is the scientific study of animals. Its studies include the anatomy, structure, embryology, Biological classification, classification, Ethology, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinction, extinct, and ...

specimen Specimen may refer to: Science and technology * Sample (material), a limited quantity of something which is intended to be similar to and represent a larger amount * Biological specimen or biospecimen, an organic specimen held by a biorepository f ...

s, including skeletons, skins, spirit specimens, birds’ eggs, frozen tissue samples and a wildlife sound library, mainly of

vertebrate Vertebrates () are animals with a vertebral column (backbone or spine), and a cranium, or skull. The vertebral column surrounds and protects the spinal cord, while the cranium protects the brain. The vertebrates make up the subphylum Vertebra ...

animals from

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

and

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is an island country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and offshore islands in Melanesia, a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean n ...

, which are stored in a secure, climate-controlled facility. It is based at

CSIRO The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) is an Australian Government agency that is responsible for scientific research and its commercial and industrial applications. CSIRO works with leading organisations arou ...

Sustainable Ecosystems Division in the

Australian Capital Territory The Australian Capital Territory (ACT), known as the Federal Capital Territory until 1938, is an internal States and territories of Australia, territory of Australia. Canberra, the capital city of Australia, is situated within the territory, an ...

History

The ANWC was established in 1966, though its origins date from the late 1950s when scientists in the CSIRO's Wildlife Survey section were collecting specimens in the course of their work and were concerned that their individual collections should not be dispersed and should be accessible at a central location for long-term security and so that comparative studies could be made. The decision to establish a central facility was made by Harold Frith, Chief of the Division of Wildlife. The founding Curator, later Director, was

Richard Schodde Richard Schodde, Order of Australia, OAM (born 23 September 1936) is an Australian botany, botanist and ornithology, ornithologist. Schodde studied at the University of Adelaide, where he received a Bachelor of Science, BSc (Hons) in 1960 and a ...

, who held the post for nearly thirty years. It was formally recognised and named the Australian National Wildlife Collection in 1976 through gazettal by the

Government of Australia The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government or simply as the federal government, is the national Executive (government), executive government of Australia, a federalism, federal Parliamentary system, parliamentary con ...

References

Australian National Wildlife Collection
Biological research institutes in Australia Zoology organizations 1966 establishments in Australia CSIRO {{Australia-org-stub