Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sanghralaya, the erstwhile Prince of Wales Museum, has about 2,500 persons visiting it daily and the number doubles on weekends. For most, it’s the Natural History section, on the ground floor, housing stuffed birds and inanimate wildlife like leopards, tigers, lions and more that grabs fancy.
However, for Dr Santosh Gaikwad, an assistant professor of Anatomy from Goregaon’s Mumbai Veterinary College of the Maharashtra Animal and Fishery Science University, his first visit to the museum in 2003 and the sighting of a leopard in full grandeur, albeit stuffed, and on display, was a life-altering experience. He was completely enamoured with the real-looking leopard, more so, owing to the anatomical accuracy and life-like features that had been recreated.
“How could the anatomy of this wild animal be so perfect and realistic?” he recalls having felt then. At that point, he hadn’t even heard of the term ‘taxidermy’ and had even referred to the specimen as ‘stuffed’, as a layman did then. His curiosity got the better of him as he examined the inanimate cat closely, even finely while lying below the creation to check details and was left exasperated.
Upon asking a museum staff how the animal was made to look so real, he was told that “the animal’s skin was removed and the body stuffed with something.” On enquiry, he learned that the procedure was called ‘taxidermy,’ a practice that had been mastered and conducted by the British before India got freedom.
Enamoured by the process, the professor then enquired in museums in Madras, Kolkata and other cities to learn about taxidermy but was told that it was not being taught anywhere in India. Incidentally, Van Ingen & Van Ingen or Van Ingen of Mysore, headed by a Dutchman who had moved to Mysore, had started India’s first taxidermy factory in 1900, best known for tiger and leopard taxidermy trophy mounts. However, the factory stopped operations in 1999.
Dr Gaikwad began researching about it, procured information from the internet and other places and, with basic understanding and knowledge, decided to start practising the ‘art’ on his own.
His visit to the museum’s Natural History section in 2003 proved to be a turning point in life. He embarked on a journey of self-discovery and study that culminated in his transformation into India’s only official taxidermist.
Dr Gaikwad’s job at the veterinary college made access to dead birds and animals easy. He began practising on birds first and would often bring dead birds home and practise on the dining table! This meant that whenever he could get a ‘good’ dead bird and not one that was mutilated or had begun rotting, he would keep it in the fridge so that it would remain in good shape till the time he could manage to work upon it.
He recalls having frequent fights with his wife over this as she was dead against the idea of having ‘dead birds’ stashed away in the refrigerator. Acquiring a deep freezer to keep the carcasses brought peace back. He diligently practised skinning and worked on many birds till he received the level of perfection desired. However, the most challenging part is Mounting that gives shape to the specimen and requires a thorough understanding of the anatomy (bodily structure) of the creature.
By 2005, he had to leave his private veterinary practice as it was getting difficult to balance his passion for taxidermy with his government job. Opting for the knife and scalpel, he nevertheless continued with his job as a professor.
This was owing to the then-Dean of his college who wrote a letter to the then-Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (Wildlife) Bimal Majumdar stating, “Tthe importance and need to preserve rare species of birds and animals in the wild instead of burning them.” He also pointed out that the absence of space and equipment to perform taxidermy must be addressed.
Dr Gaikwad recalls how Majumdar, without any delay, paid a visit to Mumbai and passed an order for the construction of a Taxidermy Centre. Dr Santosh Gaikwad was asked to choose a room for his taxidermy works and the centre started in 2006. The Wildlife Taxidermy Centre at Sanjay Gandhi National Park was officially inaugurated by the Secretary of Maharashtra Forest Department on October 1, 2008.
In the meantime, Dr Gaikwad had started practising on mammals. He had started receiving skins of tigers and leopards from forest departments across India for processing. Today, Forest Department officials across India call Dr Gaikwad for preservation of rare species of birds and animals through Taxidermy and pay him an honorarium for his work.
India’s only Taxidermy Centre at SGNP has been recently demolished and is being re-built at the same place, as per Forest Laws. The new centre will also have a gallery for public viewing to enable rare species to be displayed before being dispatched to their respective locations.
Taxidermy, a re-creation of primarily dead animals and birds, is now becoming a need-based art. Which is why a lot of people have been approaching Dr Gaikwad, of late, to ‘re-create’ their pets and convert their carcass into real-life exhibits. “It’s almost like breathing life into dead pets,” says Dr Gaikwad.
Dr Santosh Gaikwad’s curiosity at witnessing the ‘stuffed’ leopard at the Museum is now going viral. Today, 15 years later, he harbours “the same curiosity and passion for the art,” he had when he first began practising Taxidermy. Taxidermy works across India today are presently being officially undertaken by Dr Santosh Gaikwad but there’s one hitch—Dr Gaikwad being India’s sole Taxidermist fears that the skills of Taxidermy will end with him. “By the time, I get older and retire after 15 years, I want to teach the skill to Generation Next,” he sums up.