When you’re preparing an elephant mount nearly four metres tall, sometimes you have to think a little differently. To transport it safely – and, more importantly, to actually get it through the doors – the elephant travels without its tusks and ears.
Those are fitted once the mount is in place.
The installation itself then becomes a small logistical operation. Several people, hundreds of kilograms, just centimetres of clearance, lifting, turning, positioning… and preferably no second attempts. When you miscalculate by a few centimetres, you have a problem. 😊
The photos show the entire process – from preparation in our workshop and transport to the final installation. The ears are attached, the tusks fitted, and the elephant finally gets its complete appearance.
And when everything is finished? It looks as though it has always been standing there.
People sometimes ask us what the hardest part of taxidermy is. Sometimes it isn’t the taxidermy itself.
Sometimes it’s simply getting the elephant through the door. 🐘
