Slice Of Life: Taxidermy and the lesser-known art of bringing back the dead

Every time, a Hollywood movie showed a deer mounted on a wall, next to a grim character sitting by a fireplace, one would wonder if the animal is real or just a mannequin to add to the character. Sadly, in India, post the ban on hunting, taxidermy was stopped being practiced by the taxidermists. A taxidermist is a doctor, who not only has the knowledge of the anatomy of the animal but is a vet who has the capability to reproduce a life-like replica of the animal, using this unique technique. Taxidermy enables one to revisit the pet/wild animals body structure in detail. If done professionally, it enables further study with a deeper analysis. “In today’s day and age, when animals are getting extinct by the day, preservation for future study – informing people how the animal’s structure has defined their future generations and species – can be useful,” says Dr Santosh Gaikwad, the only taxidermist left in the country.

A lot of people get their pets converted into long-lasting taxidermy sculptures. Firstpost’s An After Life is the latest from the documentary web series, Slice Of Life, which explores the story from a doctor’s perspective and Mrs Malik’s, mother of Bruno Malik, a German Shepherd – who is now a taxidermy pet.