Friends from Gosport and Stubbington open up unusual museum

But Daniel Roberts and friend Nigel George beg to differ.

They have set up an exhibition focusing on... animal and human faeces.

The idea came to Daniel, from Gosport, while he was in Sweden with his family.

Nigel, a curator for the museum from Stubbington, said: ‘It was all Daniel’s fault that we came up with the idea.

‘He was on holiday in Sweden with his family and they were on a wildlife walk.

‘On the walk they came across some animal droppings and they became fascinated.

‘They wanted to find out what kind of animal it was and what it had been eating.’

From there the National Poo Museum, at Sandown Zoo on the Isle of Wight, was created.

In the museum is a display of excrement from animals ranging from lions to meerkats and samples from babies. All are shown in spheres.

Each sample can tell you about the animal or a person’s diet along with signs of current health.

There are hopes for the museum to get across a serious message but the pair say it can be light-hearted.

Daniel, 45, said: ‘A part of it is the fun of it.

‘We do everything with a sense of humour.’

Despite the humorous undertones, there is a serious nature behind each and every excrement sample with the museum getting interest from Bowel Cancer Research.

With the help from medical scientists, the museum may look into raising awareness for the charity by informing the public about the symptoms of bowel cancer.

These could be on display at their exhibits.

Nigel added: ‘We are happy to help out in any way that we can.’

By next year they hope to find a permanent home for the museum as well as planning to tour the UK with the exhibit.

For more information visit poomuseum.org.