National Museum of Natural History (Malta)

The National Museum of Natural History is located in a building full of history,^[1] within the medieval walled city of Mdina, Malta. It exists from the mid-1960s and has been open to the public since 1973. It is now run by Heritage Malta.

The museum gives the visitor an overview of Maltese ecosystems (both on ground and under water), focusing on endemic plants and bird of the Islands, such as the Maltese Centaury and Blue Rock Thrush.

This museum display ranks a large variety of minerals, fossils, insects, reptiles, birds, mammals, fish and sections about Geology and Palaeontology.^[2]

Malta’s Apollo 17 Goodwill Moon Rock-On Tuesday May 18, 2004, Malta’s Apollo 17 Goodwill Moon rock was stolen from the Museum.^[3] According to an Associated Press story the Moon rock has a value of 5 million dollars (U.S), making it one of the largest valued thefts in Malta's history.^[4] The Moon rock has not been recovered.^{[5][6][7][8][9] [10][11]}

References

1. ^ "Heritage Malta Museums". Heritagemalta.org. http://www.heritagemalta.org/museums/naturalhistory/naturalhistoryhistory.html. Retrieved 2010-11-13. 
2. ^ "Life Yelkouan Shearwater Project". Lifeshearwaterproject.org.mt. http://www.lifeshearwaterproject.org.mt/en/view.aspx?id=38. Retrieved 2010-11-13. 
3. ^ "Malta’s Moon Rock Stolen: A TINY moon rock believed to be worth £2.8 million has been stolen from a museum in Malta, it emerged today." The Sun (U.K), May 21, 2004.
4. ^ " $5M moon rock stolen from Malta museum" Associated Press Story appearing in USA Today, May 21, 2004.
5. ^ [ "Ex-NASA officer urges Malta amnesty to repossess moon rock"] The Sunday Times (Malta), Herman Grech, May 22, 2004.
6. ^ Moon rock returns to Honduras. CollectSpace.com. February 28th, 2004.
7. ^ American moon rock gifts vanish. BBC, July 21, 2004.
8. ^ In Malta, a moon-rock caper. The Christian Science Monitor, June 17, 2004.
9. ^ Lost The Hottest Rocks on Earth. The Times, July 20th, 2004.
10. ^ Misplaced From Space: Every Nation Received a Moon Rock, Some Can't Find it. The Houston Chronicle, May 7, 2010.
11. ^ In Search of the Goodwill Moon Rocks: A Personal Account Geotimes Magazine, Joseph Gutheinz, November 2004.