Hunterian Zoology Museum
Astonishing animals
The Hunterian Zoology Museum, located in the Graham Kerr building, showcases the astonishing diversity of the animal kingdom.
Plan Your Visit
What's On Display?
The rich diversity of the animal kingdom is represented here in a classic taxonomical order with specimens from elephants to echidnas and from giant squid to glass sponges. There are just under 800 different species on display, which is a tiny fraction of the estimated 7.7 million animal species thought to exist on Earth.
The Zoology Museum has been at the heart of the Graham Kerr Building since it opened in 1923. The displays were designed to aid teaching of undergraduate students and are still used as part of classes today.
The origins of the individual specimens are varied, many were purchased from natural history supply companies, some were collected by staff and students at the University, others were donated by individuals or other museums. Often the identity of the person who collected the animal from the wild is not known and has been lost to history.
Around a fifth of the animals on display here are classified as threatened and with a changing climate and an ongoing biodiversity crisis the situation for most species on Earth is going to get worse. In the future it is likely that many species will only exist as specimens in museums such as this.
Find out more about our exhibitions and events in our What's On section or discover the range and scale of our collections.
Opening Times and Prices
Free entry
Open Monday–Friday
9am–5pm
Check our Notices page for temporary closures and our public holiday opening hours.
Getting Here
The Hunterian
The Hunterian is part of the University of Glasgow. Our Museums, Art Gallery and the Mackintosh House are located on the Gilmorehill campus, 3km west of Glasgow city centre.
Hunterian Zoology Museum
The Hunterian Zoology Museum is located in the Graham Kerr building, a five-minute walk from the Hunterian Museum.
By Subway
Hillhead station.
By Bus
4 and 4A from the city centre to University Avenue.
By Car
The University is signposted locally. Limited pay-and-display parking on University Avenue and adjoining streets on weekdays. Free parking on campus at weekends - enter main University campus via University Avenue.
By Bike
Bike parking is available on campus.
Access
There are three steps to enter the Graham Kerr Building with a chairlift available, and three steps to enter the main room of the museum with a ramp available.
The Zoology Museum does not have accessible toilets.
History
The Hunterian is Scotland's oldest museum. It opened in 1807 following Dr William Hunter's bequest of his substantial collections to the University of Glasgow.
The first Hunterian Museum was located near Glasgow Cathedral on the University of Glasgow’s first site. When the University moved to its present location in 1870, the Hunterian collections were relocated to the Gilbert Scott building, where the Hunterian Museum remains today.
The whole collection was originally displayed together, but eventually some sections were moved to other parts of the University.
The zoology collections are now housed in the Hunterian Zoology Museum, the art collections in the Hunterian Art Gallery and the books and manuscripts in the University Library.
Other Venues
The Hunterian has a range of venues to explore on the University of Glasgow campus and beyond.