Why Ethical Sourcing Matters in Specimen Collection 🔍

Shannon Kira Mcmillan
Dec 1, 2025
3 min read

The world of natural history has always been deeply tied to questions of curiosity, conservation, and ethics. As collectors, artists, museum professionals, and enthusiasts, we play an important role in preserving the past responsibly — ensuring that the way we source, handle, and display specimens reflects both respect for wildlife and an understanding of the complex history behind these practices.

For me, ethical sourcing isn’t just a preference. It’s a commitment to care, education, and the long-term preservation of the natural world.

🦴 What Ethical Sourcing Really Means

Ethical sourcing is about ensuring specimens are obtained in a way that:

does not harm wildlife
complies with legal protections
respects cultural and environmental contexts
values sustainability and conservation
supports transparent, responsible collecting

Whether you're a collector, researcher, artist, or museum visitor, the principles remain the same: our interactions with natural materials must protect rather than deplete.

🧭 Evolving Ethics in Preservation

Ethics within natural history aren’t fixed — they have changed over time, shaped by new scientific understanding, laws, and shifting cultural values. From Victorian trophy hunting to today’s conservation-led approaches, we’ve seen a major shift towards sustainability and respect.

These debates continue today: Fur vs faux. Leather vs vegan alternatives. Vintage vs modern taxidermy. Trophy hunting vs conservation-led culling. Each raises important questions about the impact of human use of animal materials.

My Personal Ethical Stance:

✔️ Vintage over modern — reuse existing specimens rather than contributing to new trade.
✔️ Found over caught — naturally deceased specimens or reclaimed materials only.
✔️ No protected species — especially bats, which are strictly protected in the UK.
✔️ Ivory is complex — historic ivory holds cultural and artistic significance, but the modern ivory trade is inseparable from exploitation and trophy hunting, so I do not support it.

Indigenous cultural practices also offer important ethical models. Many Nordic communities continue tightly regulated subsistence hunting, using every part of an animal with deep respect and necessity. This kind of stewardship is rooted in sustainability — something modern collectors and museums can learn from.

🖐️ Hands-On Ethics: Talking Tables Workshops at Sheffield Museums

One of my favourite ways to engage people in ethical conversations around natural history is through my work with Sheffield Museums’ Talking Tables project — a hands-on visitor engagement initiative that allows direct, supervised interaction with museum objects.

During these sessions, visitors can explore real items from the museum’s Social and Natural History collections, including:

a taxidermy squirrel with visible fur damage from previous handling
a sperm whale tooth, connecting discussions to marine conservation and historic whaling
an owl pellet display, showing bones and materials found inside and highlighting predator–prey relationships

These sessions break the traditional glass barrier between people and collections. Visitors are able to:

hold or closely examine real museum objects
ask questions about natural history, conservation, and specimen care
explore the ethical issues surrounding collecting, preserving, and displaying animals
learn how cultural attitudes towards animal materials have changed over time

As someone who finds joy in every corner of natural history, I’m always delighted when discussions turn to ethics, sourcing, conservation, and the fascinating stories behind specimens.

This interactive approach allows ethical learning to become tactile, personal, and memorable — and it demonstrates how museums can foster curiosity while still upholding conservation values.

🌍 Why Ethics Matter More Than Ever

Whether you collect bones, study zoology, work in museums, create art from natural materials, or simply enjoy learning about wildlife, ethical sourcing preserves the integrity of natural history for future generations.

It:

protects wildlife and ecosystems
ensures compliance with law and conservation strategy
safeguards cultural traditions
maintains transparency and trust in the sector
encourages thoughtful, informed collecting practices

Ethical sourcing is not about restriction — it’s about responsibility.

It’s about understanding where specimens come from, respecting the animals and environments involved, and recognising that we are caretakers of the stories these objects tell.

🐾 Final Thoughts

My passion for natural history is rooted in curiosity, respect, and the desire to share that enthusiasm with others in a responsible way. Whether through my personal collection, my museum volunteering, or hands-on engagement with visitors, I always strive to promote ethical conversations around collecting and conservation.

As our understanding grows, so should our approach. Ethical sourcing ensures that natural history remains a field driven by care — not exploitation.

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🏛️ Check out Sheffield Museums' Website

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