One of the most notable museums in Albania is the Natural Sciences Museum in Tirana. It features an exceptional collection highlighting the country’s rich biodiversity, with around 3,000 specimens on display and a scientific research archive of approximately 100,000 fauna specimens from across Albania.

The Sabiha Kasimati Natural Sciences Museum was founded in 1948 as part of the former Institute of Sciences. After the establishment of the University of Tirana in 1957, it came under the Faculty of Natural Sciences within the Department of Zoology. In 2010, together with the National Herbarium and the Botanical Garden, it became part of the Research Center for Flora and Fauna.

The Mediterranean region is among the richest in the world in terms of fauna, and Albania has long served as a refuge for rare species, carefully documented by Albanian researchers, especially during the communist period. Today, the country is home to nearly 30 percent of Europe’s fauna.

Despite this richness, Albania has lost more animal species than any other European country due to population growth, erosion, deforestation, uncontrolled land use, overfishing, and illegal hunting. Nevertheless, the museum safeguards an extraordinary range of species inhabiting Albania’s land and waters.

The fauna inventory includes entomofauna (insects), herpetofauna (amphibians and reptiles), ornithofauna (birds), mammal fauna (mammals), and macrobenthic fauna (mollusks and crustaceans).