Mumbai: After drowning in Gadchiroli in 2007, Vimala has become the first pachyderm to be resurrected by taxidermists at the Sanjay Gandhi National Park.
On Saturday, Dr Santosh Gaikwad, placed a pair of eyes on a model of Vimala, an 80 year-old elephant, who died in a drowning accident in Gadchiroli in 2007. This making the country's first taxidermy model of an elephant.
Working from the Sanjay Gandhi National Park taxidermy centre, India's only taxidermy centre that opened in 2009, Gaikwad made Vimala's replica using the actual skin of the dead animal after retrieving it from forest officials.
Gaikwad has made replicas of an ostrich, turtles, rabbits and even six tigers on request by veterinary colleges and wildlife sanctuaries.
But making the model of an elephant was no easy task, as it involves arranging the skin, hair, eyes and tusks.
"I retrieved the skin from the forest officers in Gadchiroli.
Then, I took accurate measurements of the elephant's body. After that, a mould is made based on the skeleton.
The best part of this art is that we can make a taxidermy model of the animal in action too," said Gaikwad, an associate professor at Bombay Veterinary College in Goregaon, and a specialist in veterinarian anatomy.
With the carcass's measurements, a new artificial skeleton is prepared and stuffed. That's when the expert has to graft the tanned skin on the bare-boned model. This also involves the backbreaking task of adding minute details such as the eyes and hair on the skin.
Gaikwad also gave Vimla a cosmetic upgrade. "Though Vimla didn't have tusks, we gave the mount a tusk implant so it could look more attractive," said Gaikwad.
The taxidermy centre is barely a year old, but it has already received over 200 requests from wildlife conservationists across the country to create taxidermy models. Recently, the centre received a request from the Uttarakhand forest department to create a model of a snow leopard.
"The Veermata Jijamata Prani Sangrahalay (Byculla zoo) has approached me to make a taxidermy museum as well," said Gaikwad.
B Majumdar, the former chief wildlife warden of Mahrashtra state forest department who spearheaded the initiative to create the taxidermy centre, said, "We want young people to see the mounts of rare species, so they may be inspired to think about protecting endangered species."
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