Dorset, with its wide variety of landscapes, is a very rich county for wildlife. The Natural History Gallery shows some of the many habitats that can be found in Dorset, including woodland, lowland heath, rivers and coastal areas.

The displays also deal with conservation issues and changing environments. For example, puffins were once fairly common along the Dorset cliffs, but now only a handful nest there in the early summer. Otters also suffered terribly in the first part of the 20th century, when the use of pesticides caused their numbers to plummet. However, since then, a deliberate effort has been made to create a more suitable environment for otters to live in, and their numbers are recovering - a real conservation success story!

Behind the scenes, the Dorset County Museum houses extensive research collections, including butterflies, birds, molluscs, mammals and the Mansel-Pleydell European herbarium. Most important of these collections is the Alfred Russel Wallace collection of bird skins. Wallace was a contemporary of Darwin, and collected the skins on his travels in Malaysia, Indonesia and Australia.

If you would like to make an appointment to see any of the research collections, please telephone the main office on 01305 262735.