Chengdu museum urges visitors to respect exhibitions

A biology museum in Chengdu, Sichuan province, urged the public to care for exhibits on Thursday after a visitor damaged a fish specimen on display.

The incident occurred at the Mystery of Life Museum in Chengdu on Monday. A surveillance video circulated online shows a man touching a large fish exhibit, making a twisting motion with his right hand, and breaking a long strip-like object on the specimen.

A staff member from the museum disclosed that the damaged exhibit was a skeletal specimen of an ancient billfish. The incident resulted in the specimen having two ribs broken.

The museum staff reported the incident to the local police and provided them with the surveillance footage. The man has not yet been found and the investigation is ongoing.

The staff member expressed the hope that visitors maintain civilized behavior and take care of the exhibition hall during their visit.

The museum's curator Li Jun said the total cost to repair the specimen is estimated to be over 10,000 yuan ($1,380) as it needs to be transported to the museum's headquarters in Dalian, Liaoning province, and it may require German technicians to fix it.

Li also mentioned that patrols will be increased in the museum. But the museum will not enclose the exhibits due to the incident, as it wishes to maintain an immersive and close-up viewing experience for visitors.

Actually, the museum has designated areas for visitors to touch specimens. Despite the efforts, specimens are frequently damaged by visitors. A kangaroo's arm was broken at the Dalian branch of the museum, an alpaca's muscle was torn at the Shenyang branch in Liaoning province, and an ostrich's feathers were plucked at the Zhouzhuang branch in Jiangsu province.