Pretoria - It’s imperative to look to the past to acquire a better understanding of the present - and museums are in a unique position to alter and define perceptions about history of mankind and nature.
Of course, one cannot speak about one without linking it to the other; the existence of the pair has been intricately intertwined since the dawn of time.
This is evident in the dioramas at Ditsong National Museum of Natural History in Pretoria.
It was formerly known as Transvaal Museum and founded as the Staatsmuseum of the ZAR on December 1, 1892.
The museum acts as custodian and documentation centre of South Africa’s natural heritage.
Its collections and exhibits include hominid fossils from the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site and associated fauna, including Mrs Ples - a fossil skull believed to represent a distant relative of all humankind.
Mrs Ples was an Australopithecus Africanus, which were ape-like, but different from other great apes of the past and today in that their powerful jaws contained smaller canines - though they were still larger than a human’s.
They were also habitually bipedal, meaning they often walked upright. They had strong, slightly curved, fingers and thumbs, while their feet were short, with less flexible toes than other apes and more like ours. Their strong arms and fingers could have aided climbing, which may mean they spent some of their time in trees.
That said, a visitor is greeted by a massive diorama of an elephant and its offspring at the entrance, which has been ushering in visitors to the museum since 1940.
The museum has halls which contain organisms specific to various epochs from history.
“The first hall is named Genesis because it is dedicated to the first organisms on this planet. It’s the beginning and the origin of everything,” said Bongi Legwase, an education officer at the museum.
Walking through the museum, one is engulfed by lifeless creatures from distant eras.
“This is where we have the invertebrates, which consist of insects, molluscs which are soft-bodied marine animals with protective shells like snails, crustaceans (crabs), and arachnids (spiders), among others,” Legwase said.
The museum boasts an impressive collection of specimens which are used for educational programmes and research.
Acting director Shaw Badenhorst, who spoke about the bird hall which boasts about 870 birds from southern Africa in its collection, spoke of one incident in which a bird was responsible for the breakdown of a Boeing 747 at OR Tambo International Airport, then known as Jan Smuts International Airport.
“It was an interesting incident. A dove once flew through the engine of a 747 on take-off at the old Jan Smuts airport. The cost of the damage at the time was estimated to be nearly R15 000,” Badenhorst said.
He said, apart from the bird being used for tours, researchers often visited the museum before going out on expeditions.
“We usually have specialists coming here to look at the birds. Sometimes it’s for research purposes, to see what they look like before going out in the wild,” said Badenhorst.
The museum is the only natural history museum in Gauteng and one of the largest in South Africa. It is unique in that it is the only institute in South Africa that offers all the opportunity to view its collections including original fossil material usually denied to the public.
Legwase also showed one of the museum’s most attractive features, the Discovery Centre, a hands-on activity centre, where the five human senses are used to discover the wonders of nature, offering an invaluable educational adventure.
It affords easy access for wheelchairs and display texts are also in Braille. This centre is ideal for younger pupils eager to explore with their hands.
In it, all the rules that apply to the rest of the museum fall away.
“Children and patrons are allowed to touch the specimens on display and have an opportunity to play with them,” said Legwase.
“To get a full experience one needs to set aside an entire day for tours because some can last half a day while others can last an entire day. We mostly have visits from schools during the week, while some people enjoy visiting over weekends.”
The museum also accommodates overnight visits and allows patrons to engage in educational tours and games. The museum has a library that is accessible to the public, but only on request. The library has been in existence for more than 100 years and specialises in zoology, palaeontology and faunal history of southern Africa.
The collection is paper-based and provides documentary support for all the various functions of the museum.
KNOW YOUR CITY
The Ditsong National Museum of Natural History is open every day from 8am to 4pm, except on Christmas Day and Good Friday.
It costs adults R30 to access the museum, while pupils pay R15 and senior citizens pay R10.
Guided tours for pupils cost R20 a person and R35 for adults. There is an additional R20 to see and experience the Discovery Centre.
Address: 432 Visagie Street, Pretoria, 0001
Phone: 012 322 7632
TANKISO MAKHETHA, Pretoria News