The Cole Museum of Zoology is a collection of animal specimens based at the University of Reading to teach zoology. It was established in the early 20th century by Francis J. Cole, Professor of Zoology from 1907 to 1939. The Collection was originally housed at the London Road campus until the early 1970s when it was transported to its present location at Whiteknights. The Cole Museum of Zoology contains some 3500 specimens of which about 400 are on display at any one time. Specimens are arranged in taxonomic sequence enabling a complete tour of the diversity of the Animal Kingdom to be completed in less than one hour. Highlights of the Collection include complete skeletons of a male Indian Elephant, a False Killer Whale, a five metre Reticulated Python, and a pair of Giant Spider Crabs. The collection is based in the foyer of the Animal and Microbial Sciences building which is part of the School of Biological Sciences.

The Museum is normally open to visitors Monday–Friday 9.30–4.30pm or when the University is open. This will include Saturdays on University Open Days and Visit Days. Please see the University website to get this year's dates. The University of Reading is open during school half-term, but please see specific closure dates. The University is normally closed on the 8 Public Holidays for England and Wales:
New Year's Day, May Bank Holiday, Christmas Day, Good Friday, Spring Bank Holiday, Boxing Day, Easter Monday and the Summer Bank Holiday.
The University is also normally closed on the following 6 Closure Days: the last weekday before Christmas (1 day); weekdays between Christmas and New Year (3 days); the Thursday before Good Friday and Tuesday after Easter Monday (2 days).

The museum is free to visitors. Please contact us to arrange a group booking. This is essential to ensure that we do not have too many people in the museum at one time. School parties are particularly welcome and are charged a flat rate if a member of staff is required to support their visit. Otherwise, we request that groups pay a small donation to help us run the museum, of at least £1 per head for groups. Pre-arranged groups may visit outside opening times by appointment but this will incur a further charge. Please contact us for more information about visiting the museum.

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