Because of a lack of funding and appropriate protection facilities, the fossils collected by the Shijiazhuang Economic Institute were beginning to weather and oxidize, said Yang Jianping, curator of the museum under the institute.

"If the situation continues, these fossils will become nothing but a pile of dust," said Yang.

In a showroom without any temperature- or humidity-setting facilities, the fossils are scattered in and around a sand pan, covered with thick dust. Most of the others can only be crammed into boxes and then piled up in basements or classrooms.

The institute, formerly named Hebei Institute of Geology, is well-known for its collection of dinosaur fossils, including footprints, skeletons, and eggs. The pride of the collection is a 20-meter-long, five-meter-high skeleton of sauropod believed to have existed in the late Cretaceous period, when dinosaurs began to become extinct.

"It is rare for anywhere in the world," said Yang. "We spent five years unearthing and cleaning up the skeleton, and 70 percent of the bones were found and pieced together."

He said he felt sorry that the precious skeleton could not be displayed or made available for research as there were no exhibition halls or protection facilities.

The local government has begun to take notice of the problem. Recently experts and local officials sat together to discuss the possibility of raising funds to build a provincial nature museum.

( July 22, 2002)