Mammological collection

A.G. Bannikov

The history of the mammological collection of the Ecocenter Djeiran dates back to May 1977, when the Ecocenter was established with the aim of rearing rare animal species and study of their biology. The idea of the creation of this collection belongs to two world-famous scientists - Professor Anrei Bannikov and Vladimir Evegen'evich Flint. The collection is unique in its direction, subject area and methods of collection. It contains series of skulls of the Goitered gazelle, the kulan and the Przewalki's horse. The collection was - and has been - replenished when studying the processes taking place during the formation and development of artificial populations of rare ungulate species, carrying out the monitoring and a targeted elimination of adverse processes in populations. Twenty-eight scientific have been published on the basis of collection materials.

V.E. Flint

The collection is expanded with the skulls of animals that died the natural death, as well as after the selective catches using the greyhounds. Sole specimens of skulls of the Goitered gazelles were also presented by hunters after the licensed shooting. A special catch of animals for the expansion of the collection have not been carried out. Insignificant numbers of skulls of other animals inhabiting this ecocenter, which have been collected during annual total catches, are available in the collection.

The collections of the ungulates are of an obvious importance as these are the only collection of its kind in Central Asia and the largest one in the CIS. The main collections were made by the associates of the ecocenter in its territory. It contains 1027 specimens, of which 2 skulls are of the long-eared hedgehog and 1 skull of the Brandt's hedgehog; 4 skulls of red foxes; 1 skull of the badger; 5 skulls of the steppe cat; 6 skulls of the Przewalski's Horse; 3 skulls of the kulan; 1005 skulls of the Goitered Gazelles.

The collection room has the size of 10 by 4 m; the collections are stored in on the shelves of cabinets broken down by year of collection since the day of the establishment of this ecocenter