[2] The museum and its laboratory were founded in 1894 by government of Dutch East Indies during the colonial era.

Inspired by his visit to Sri Lanka in 1898, J. Koningsberger went to collect animal specimens for research with assistance of Dr Melchior Treub.

[3] The collection currently held by the museum was enhanced in 1997 using grants from the World Bank and the Japanese government.

[4] The Bogor Zoological Museum has an area of 1,500 m2 (16,000 sq ft),[2] and contains one of the most extensive fauna collections in Southeast Asia.

The museum collection includes fossilised and preserved animals:[5] There is also a skeleton of a blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus), the biggest of its kind in Indonesia.