Bishkek Zoological Museum

[Martin Hash]

My hero, Theodore Roosevelt, president, explorer & taxidermist, was a contributor to the Smithsonian Institution with his collection of stuffed animals in 1882, but that ambition has never been mine. Going into a room full of stuffed animals, dried fish, and pinned insects was quite common until modern times when they became political incorrect. People under 50 today don't even like seeing live animals in zoos, let alone be reminded that humans kill animals.

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I love zoos but even I find rooms full of glass-eyed stares, tattered fur coats, and painted beaks somewhat macabre, especially if the animals on exhibit were killed, stuffed & mounted over a century ago. Oddness is attractive for its own sake so when traveling I keep an eye open for hints of perverse entertainment, where I am simultaneously attracted & repelled. Seen in this light, the Bishkek Zoological Museum in Kyrgyzstan called to me to visit and I was not disappointed.

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The building itself was early Soviet period with absolutely no modernization. Its 3 small rooms were crammed with cracked glass enclosures packed with 100+ year old stuffed & mounted animals, from a mouse to a bear, including several mountain goats & 2 Snow Leopards. Most amazing, there were specimens floating in alcohol from 1765. Where else would seeing 250-year old pickled newts be possible?

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