Regional Museum of Natural History (RMNH), Mysore, was the first regional centre of the National Museum of Natural History, New Delhi under the Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change, Govt. of India. It was specifically designed to cater to the Southern region of the country. The concept of regional centres dedicated to extension of non-formal environmental education across the country through its permanent galleries, in-house and outreach educational programmes throughout the year took shape with the establishment of the southern centre at Mysore.
The office of the RMNH, Mysore was set up in 1988 and the museum galleries were inaugurated on 20th May1995. It is situated adjacent to the Karanji Nature Park and Chamarajendra Zoological Gardens (Mysore Zoo) under the foot hills of the famous Chamundi Hill of Mysore with an area of 5.25 acres provided free of cost by Govt. of Karnataka. The built up area has a plinth area of 4600 square meters clothed in the lush green vegetation in an area referred as the lung space of Mysore.