Science Insider recently reported on the impacts of the ongoing war in Ukraine on museum collections. The article recounted how researchers at the Ukrainian Bat Rehabilitation Center a bat rescue and research facility in Kharkiv, Ukraine scrambled to protect, hide, or evacuate irreplaceable specimens, collections, and data. Conservation biologist Anton Vlaschenko moved the center’s collection of over 2000 Nyctalus noctula bat skulls each carefully padded with shredded newspaper and labeled and stored in a numbered matchbox to his apartment, an hour’s walk away. Vlaschenko argued that the specimens that survive such situations are crazy important for future research, adding, you can buy new equipment or build new buildings, but you can’t get back individual specimens.
Fedir Androshchuk, Director of the National Museum of the History of Ukraine, said his museum in Kyiv and others across the country have also been trying to protect collections by relocating them to shelters or other secure spots. However, Androshchuk worries that with eventual damages caused by shelling and bombing, there is no guarantee that Ukrainian heritage will be safe. Read the article.
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