Criteria for Accessioning Material

The criteria for adding specimens to the collection (through donors, exchanges, collecting, and salvaging) are to determine if the specimen was obtained legally and if the specimen contributes to the research collections.

1. Permits

• Non-U.S. material. All CITES member nations require Export and CITES permits (and often collecting permits) on their protected wildlife.  It is the responsibility of all collectors to know the laws of the countries in question and to comply fully with them.  Prior to arrival in the United States, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS) Form 3-177 (or e-Dec) must be completed.  Declaration must be made at customs at the point of entry.  Theoretically, a USFWS agent must validate the importation at the time of entry.  If frozen tissue is being brought into the country, an APHIS permit (US veterinary permit for importation & transportation of controlled materials & organisms & vectors) may be required and then shown to the U.S. Department of Agriculture inspectors.
• U.S. material. Specimens must have been obtained legally.  Collecting and salvage activities may require both state and federal permits.
• Endangered/Threatened Species. This permit is required when previously legally acquired specimens are exported or imported again.  Declarations must be made to USFWS agents prior to the shipment of specimens.  If material which has been collected illegally is brought to Mammalogy, our instructions from our regional U.S. Fish & Wildlife agent are to take possession of the material, get as much information about the donor as possible (name, address, etc.), and contact the pertinent authorities.

2. Once the legal questions have been answered the following criteria will be considered:

Is the taxon represented in the collection?  If there are a number of examples in the collection and the specimen does not have minimally acceptable data, it may be offered to the exhibits or public education programs or given to other institutions.  Specimens judged of long-term scientific value are cataloged into the main research collection.  Accessioning a specimen, however, does not ensure that it will be cataloged.

Deaccession Policy

Material to be deaccessioned may be used for teaching, anatomical studies, exchanged, or discarded, but it cannot be sold.  A note will be made with red pencil in the permanent catalog and in the database that a specimen has been permanently removed from the collection if it has been cataloged.  The catalog numbers of deaccessioned specimens will not be reassigned.