Mumbai: When the rains end later this year, the country’s first and only taxidermy centre at the Sanjay Gandhi National Park will move from its current premises, an old garage, to a new new state-of-the-art complex.
The run-down premises the Wildlife Taxidermy Centre, started by the State Forest Department on October 1, 2009, operates out of has begun developing cracks in its walls and roof. Dr. Santosh Gaikwad, Associate Professor of Anatomy, Bombay Veterinary College, Parel and Wildlife Taxidermist at SGNP told The Hindu that the premises is past its shelf life. “The taxidermy centre has asbestos-coated roofing, which retains a lot of water. Humidity levels are around 80% to 90% when it should ideally be 35%. Humidity and extreme temperatures have damaged a few specimens.”
Dr. Gaikwad, the country’s sole government-authorised taxidermist (they stuff and mount wild animals for display), says taxidermy combines sculpture, painting, carpentry, cobbling and anatomy. Till date, he has worked on 12 big cats including a Siberian tiger, a Himalayan black bear, an elephant head, over 400 birds and at least 150 fish and reptiles.
Presently working on his 13th leopard, Dr. Gaikwad attributes the centre’s success to efforts by Bimal Majumdar, former Chief Wildlife Warden and Suresh Thorat, former Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forests. He said the new centre, which will be funded by the State government, will come up in the same place, but will have reinforced concrete slabs to regulate humidity.
The new centre will comprise five rooms, two more than the existing premises, four of which will be used for skinning and fleshing, skeleton preparation, moulding and casting and mounting. The fifth will serve as a gallery for visitors to take in specimens. The centre will close for two-and-a-half months for the demolition and reconstruction.
Taxidermy, says Dr. Gaikwad, could be used for educational purposes. “I had created a trophy of India's last Siberian Tiger three years ago. It is in Nainital. Such extinct species could be available for public viewing for the next 100 years through taxidermy, as well as endangered ones. Several years ago, he said, a black panther had died in an accident near Satara, but it couldn’t be stuffed and mounted. “Today, it has vanished [from the wild].”
He added, “Instead of burning animals after they die, it could be said that we are giving them a life after death. The new centre will provide the best facilities for preservation of wildlife, and will be authentic.”
