Kaunas Tadas Ivanauskas Museum of Zoology, founded on 15th of July in 1919, is one of the oldest museums in Lithuania and the Baltic countries. The founder of the museum was a famous Lithuanian naturalist Prof. Tadas Ivanauskas. After a century of existence, the museum’s zoology collection consists of about 300,000 animal preparations. The exposition occupies 2,500 sq. m. storage of collections 430 sq. m. The exposition is spread over three floors, six halls and ninety-six displays. More than 15,000 animal exhibits, thirty-four dioramas and forty-six ecological compositions can be found in the exposition halls. The museum organizes tours, educational classes, lectures, exhibitions and other events. The scientific collections consist of close to 300,000 zoological objects. The museum has a separate department of Lithuanian Bird Ringing Center Ventės Ragas Ornithological Station in the Šilutė District.
Professor T. Ivanauskas was an outstanding personality among researchers and cultural characters; he initiated the foundation of not only this museum but also Ventės Ragas Ornithological Station (1929), Žuvintas Reserve (1936), and the Zoological Garden (1938). T. Ivanauskas was one of the founders of the University of Lithuania in Kaunas (1922), the Lithuanian Society for Correct Hunting and Fishing (1921), and the Lithuanian Naturalists Society (1931). His wide range of scientific, public, and pedagogic activities are described and illustrated in the historical part of the museum.
