Natural History Museum
The Natural History Museum today showcases the past 500 years of Mauritius’s rich and diverse flora and fauna, through its four permanent galleries. As to the present record, the museum is home to more than 35,000 geological samples and natural history specimens, 3,000 of which are on display. Due to the fact that the island was a paradise to endemic animals, the famous Dodo, giant land tortoises, and about 300 endemic plants including the Ebony tree are also showcased.
The Mauritius Natural History exhibition consists of four galleries notably: the Fauna Gallery, the Marine Life Gallery, the Insects, Meteorology & Giant Tortoise Gallery and finally the Dodo Gallery. The main hall (Fauna Gallery) showcases the extinct sea and shore birds, whilst the second gallery (Marine Life Gallery) is dedicated to underwater life where you will find more than 100 species of fish which exist in Mauritian waters. The third gallery (Insects, Meteorology & Giant Tortoise Gallery) features the geology and meteorology of the island. The fourth gallery (Dodo Gallery) is dedicated to the Mauritius national animal-the Dodo, where its significance is shown with the aid of matchboxes, stamps and banknotes where dodos have been printed on. A short archaeological film-documentary shows the excavation of dodo skeletons in Mare aux Songes, led by the Mauritian-Dutch team.