"An assistant to a British taxidermist told me the procedure and from what I learnt from that person and Google I started to make incisions on birds. Instead Mr Gaikwad, 42, stuffs animals that have suffered a natural or accidental death and is inundated with requests to prepare animals for museums and for grieving pet lovers. "Taxidermy is the optimal utilisation of that dead body. Mr Gaikwad was upset when a devastating fire at India’s Natural History Museum in New Delhi in April 2016 destroyed rare specimens of flora and fauna, lamenting the damage done as "a great loss to education". Mr Gaikwad, who is the only person authorised by the Indian government to stuff wild animals, explains that "taxidermy is the combination of five arts: "sculpture, painting, carpentry, cobbler, and anatomy". "These are national treasures."Those initial attempts were unsuccessful though. (Photo: AFP)When Santosh Gaikwad, India’s last-known practising taxidermist, first started stuffing animals 13 years ago he would keep dead birds in his family’s freezer at home, much to his wife’s consternation. Now he has built up such a reputation he receives a continuous supply of animals from state governments and pet owners. It’s a rebirth. Back then, Mr Gaikwad would take the birds from Mumbai’s Bombay Veterinary College where he still works as a professor in anatomy department. "I just couldn’t think of losing him," she said, adding that Bruno looks "exactly" the same as when he was alive. "Bird skin is very thin and often it would tear," he explained.
The animals were so realistic that I wanted to learn how to do it but nobody was teaching so I started by searching on the Internet," he said. But India’s Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 outlawed the hunting of wild animals and taxidermy trophies. I can touch him and brush him. If we burn them then we cannot see these animals again and their beauty will have permanently disappeared. In 2014, Mumbai resident Susmita Mallik paid him to stuff her large German Shepherd Bruno after it died of a heart attack. It takes Mr Gaikwad around eight months to prepare a big cat as he has to balance his work with his responsibilities at the veterinary college. It’s a worry," Parag Dhakate, an animal conservationist, said. Mr Gaikwad says he has stuffed 13 big cats, including a Siberian tiger, a Himalayan black bear, more than 500 birds, including a Great Indian Bustard and at least 100 fish and reptiles. "He is in the living room. It makes us feel he is with us," the 43-year-old added. It may seem a strange hobby to some but "there’s a lot of demand" said Mr Gaikwad, clad in a green surgical gown at the national taxidermy centre, opened in 2009 in Mumbai’s lush Sanjay Gandhi National Park. She said the dog was "like a child" to her. He skins the animal soon after death. It’s life after death.". So I wrapped them in two or three plastic bags, air-tight," he added. "There is no next generation. Now, as the head of India’s only taxidermy centre, he enjoys the use of two deep freezers large enough to hold a lion — at the government-run workshop in Mumbai’s national park. She thought food might get infected. He sees his work as important to preserving knowledge of India’s wildlife particularly if it’s an endangered species. "I had no option but to keep the dead birds China Wholesale aquarium air pump for sale in the home freezer," Mr Gaikwad told AFP, flanked by a snarling leopard, Bengal tiger and two contented-looking lionesses. Mr Gaikwad says there is no single taxidermy course in India that accompanies all of the five disciplines, and claims to be the only one practising taxidermy on mammals. The real skin is then placed on the mannequin and the finishing touches put in place — glass eyes, perhaps whiskers and finally the stuffed creature is mounted.India’s last practising taxidermist Santosh Gaikwad stands in the taxidermy centre at the Sanjay Gandhi National park in Mumbai. Measurements are taken of the animal’s body mass and a cast replica is prepared based on the original skeleton. He’s come a long way since his interest in the ancient art was piqued by a visit to the natural history section of Mumbai’s main museum in 2003. "My wife was afraid because we didn’t know how they had died. Taxidermy, popular in British colonial times, may conjure up images of Indian maharajas killing tigers and proudly displaying their stuffed corpses in their lavish palaces. After mastering birds and fish, the former veterinarian moved on to cats and dogs before progressing to larger land mammals. Any remaining flesh is then carefully removed. Mr Gaikwad charges owners up to Rs 3,000 (45) to stuff an exotic bird and between Rs 10,000 and Rs 18,000 for a dog, depending on breed and size