For over 60 years, a museum has been operating in the very center of Almaty, yet it is easy to pass by without even noticing it. Most people hear about it only from cultural heritage experts and those living nearby. Kursiv LifeStyle visited the museum to show you where to see authentic fossils and taxidermy.
The Nature Museum is affiliated with the National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Kazakhstan. Its entrance is located on Shevchenko St., directly across from Shokan Valikhanov Square. The 1957 building houses the museums of nature, archaeology and ancient books, as well as the Satbayev Memorial Museum. Qazaq Story, a Kazakhstani construction company, has been renovating the main building over the past three years, carrying out the work in stages.
Since 1980, the building has been listed as an architectural monument of national significance. Except for minor changes, such as the color of the walls, everything inside has remained unchanged. The entrance to the museum is to the left of the hallway, up the stairs.
What’s inside the museum
The history of the Nature Museum began in 1957 with a decree by Kanysh Satbayev, who headed the academy at the time. Four years later, it opened its doors to its first visitors. Dozens of exhibits can be found in the small but well-stocked paleontology hall. After renovations, it reopened in November 2025.
The huge skeletons of dinosaurs and other ancestors of modern animals are rightfully considered the museum’s main attraction.
According to museum staff, most of the remains on display are real
«Apart from the Tarbosaurus, the baby mammoth and small reconstructions, everything else is original. All of these skeletal fragments were found in Kazakhstan, except for the mammoth, which was brought from Novosibirsk, Russia,» museum employee Tamara explained.
The Tyrannosaurus’s Kazakh brother
One of the most notable exhibits is the Tarbosaurus. These dinosaurs lived approximately 70 million years ago, primarily in Asia, including parts of what is now Kazakhstan. It is a direct relative of the T. rex, which lived throughout what is now western North America.
A complete dinosaur skeleton has never been found in Kazakhstan. However, individual bones have been discovered, which scientists can use to determine which species inhabited the region.
That same baby mammoth from the Soviet cartoon
Another notable exhibit is the mammoth. It was brought from Russia in the late 1950s and assembled right here in the museum building. Then-young graduate student Baldyrgan Kozhamkulova led the process. Everything in the exhibit is real, except for the head, which couldn’t be properly mounted due to its weight.
Nearby lies Dima, a replica of a baby mammoth found in Siberia in 1977. He was approximately six or seven months old when he died. Thanks to the permafrost, the animal’s body was almost completely preserved.
After the discovery, the story of the baby mammoth spread around the world, and later a famous Soviet cartoon appeared, followed by a popular song about it.
Hall with stuffed animals, fish and birds
The Nature Museum also has a zoology hall. It opened on May 18, 2026, and contains 200 exhibits. These are animals that died naturally and «donated» their bodies to science.
«If an animal dies in a zoo, rehabilitation center or nature reserve, it can be given to us. Taxidermists make a stuffed mount from it,» the employee explained.
For example, the ostrich on display in the hall previously lived at the Almaty Zoo. After its death, it was stuffed and donated to the museum. The exhibits are arranged according to their habitats. Kazakhstan’s aquatic, wetland, mountain, forest, steppe and desert fauna are represented separately.
Specialists monitor the condition of the stuffed animals. The room is maintained at the required temperature, and a special treatment is carried out once a month. Therefore, on the last Friday of the month, the museum closes early to visitors — at 12:00 p.m.
Nature Museum hours and ticket prices
The museum is open from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Admission became fee-based on August 1, 2026. Prices are nominal: $1.10 for adults and $0.66 for schoolchildren and seniors.
