Breathing life into the dead

Tucked away in a corner of Jogeshwari, a professor of veterinary science is fighting hard to save a dying art, no pun intended. Dr. Sandeep Gaikwad is India's only practising taxidermist—which simply put, involves skinning, stuffing and mounting an animal after it dies. "It is a passion that has originated from the bottom of my heart," Gaikwad tells dna westcoast, "Why should we burn animals after they die? Their beauty will disappear. We should preserve them as they are our national property."

Gaikwad became interested in the art after admiring taxidermy trophies left behind by the British. But no institute in India teaches the art. So he set out to teach himself about how to bring dead animals back to life. Gaikwad used local libraries and learnt skills from professionals in the field. He even brought home dead pigeons to practice on, something his wife initially objected to but later supported. Soon, he moved onto small mammals and birds and eventually large mammals like tigers and elephants. But the process has not been easy. "Taxidermy is a combination of five arts: cobbling, sculpting, painting, carpentry and anatomy," says Gaikwad, "I am lucky because I know about anatomy but every animal's anatomy is different."

When dna westcoast visited Gaikwad, he was working on a white swan, an emu and a goat. He works on domestic animals in his spare time at home, many of which are meant for private clients, who wish to preserve their pets or even animals that are considered auspicious.
Gaikwad works on wild animals at the Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP) in Borivali. These are later displayed in museums and educational institutions. "I worked on India's last Siberian tiger. Taxidermy is essential to showcase the endangered and vanished specimens of India. It is a cost-free resource," he says.
Santosh Saste, Assistant Conservator of Forests at SGNP, agrees, "Taxidermy is important for the preservation of forest life, national parks and the education related to them. We are giving preference to this art by arranging workshops for interested groups."

Throughout his career, Gaikwad has preserved 12 big cats, more than 200 birds, 150 fishes and reptiles such as turtles. Despite taxidermy being a rare profession, Gaikwad has managed to source his materials from within India.
But the artist fears for the future of the art. He says that people are reluctant to work with dead bodies of animals. As a result, very few people are coming forward to learn taxidermy. However, there is a ray of hope—Gaikwad's 11-year-old daughter loves animals and says that she is willing to learn the art. "I would love to do it," Samruddhi tells us, "I watch my dad, assist him and learn too."
Additional reporting by Priti Khan