Dead flamingo to come alive at Sanjay Gandhi National Park soon

You won’t need to wait for the winter to catch the sight of a flamingo. A stuffed model of this pink-feathered bird will soon be on display at the national park in Borivli. The country’s only taxidermist, Dr Santosh Gaikwad, is set to begin work on a taxidermy model of the flamingo, which will stand proud at Sanjay Gandhi National Park.

Taxidermy is the art of preserving the stuffing carcass of an animal or bird by using the skin of the dead creature. This is usually done for academic purposes. The carcass of the dead animal or bird is skinned, tanned, its skeleton crafted and a clay model cast prepared on which the original skin is mounted.

Recently, a forest officer, who had found an injured flamingo in Thane, had got the bird to the national park for treatment. Huge flocks of the migratory, seasonal birds, which fly to the city during winter every year, are seen at the mudflats in Sewri. The bird found in Thane died at the national park while undergoing treatment.

Gaikwad, an associate professor at Bombay Veterinary College, will start the taxidermy process next week. He expects the process to be completed within a month. The stuffed model of the flamingo will then be displayed in the Nature Information Centre at the national park for public viewing.

“After its death, the bird’s carcass had been kept in cold storage. Certain birds and animals need taxidermy for people to close peek into how the creature looks in reality,” said Dr Gaikwad.

Dr Gaikwad, who has done work on several rare animals for zoos across the country, said he’s looking forward to the flamingo project.

“This is a different assignment and, therefore, exciting,” said Dr Gaikwad.

Chief conservator of forests and director of Sanjay Gandhi National Park, Sunil Limaye, said plans are afoot to set up a new taxidermy building on the campus of the national park.

Animal Kingdom
Ever since the taxidermy centre was set at the SGNP in 2009, Dr Gaikwad has made more than 10 animal trophies. The centre has also successfully preserved a 140-year-old turtle which had been found in a river in Pune.

Taxidermy (Greek for ‘moving skin’) is the art of mounting or reproducing animals for display. The skin of a dead animal is removed, tanned and treated. The carcass is then moulded in plaster.

The mould is used to produce a cast of the animal. Glass eyes and artificial teeth are added to the display