An accounting approach to calculate the financial value of a natural history collection of mammals in Ecuador

Biologists and economists collaborated to estimate the monetary value of the Mammal collection of the Museo de Zoologia at PUCE in Quito. We analyzed the direct and indirect costs associated with collecting, preparing, and transporting mammal specimens during four 20-day trips. We determined that the average cost per specimen was $74.70. However, because the number of specimens caught in an expedition can vary, 36 expeditions varying in length between 2003 and 2016 were used, and each expedition was assigned a total cost based on the number of work days, at the baseline total cost per day obtained. The final valuation resulted in a per acquisition cost of $72.86. The total acquisition cost of the current collection is more than one million dollars. This result is a powerful argument to encourage support for research and conservation of zoological specimens.