The Natural Museum of the CHNU was established on September 3, 2012, according to the order of the Rector dated August 30, 2012. No. 117 on the basis of zoological and geological-geographical museums – one of the oldest university museums in Ukraine, since zoological and geological-paleontological collections began to be collected in 1876 (a year after the founding of Chernivtsi University).

The collections of the Zoological Department of the Museum are of exceptional scientific, historical, and cultural importance, and by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine Resolution No. 1241 dated September 22, 2004, they are classified as scientific objects that constitute national property. The unique exhibits include 18,855 copies of animals, most of which have historical value and some represent species that have a protective status, that is, listed in the Red Books, the European Red List. The peculiarity of the fund collections of the Zoological Department is that most of the collections are regional in nature and by individual systematic groups quite fully represent the species composition of the fauna of Bukovyna and some adjacent territories. 

Collections of minerals and petrographic specimens are collected from regions all over the globe, and some of extraterrestrial origin, there are many unique specimens and nuggets. In terms of the number of storage units, geological and paleontological collections occupy one of the first places in Ukraine, there are similar ones only in Kharkiv, Odesa, Crimea, and in terms of the quality of the collection funds, there are no analogues in the country, and in the territory of Northern Bukovyna – they are the only ones here.