Alive or dead, snow leopardess remains main attraction at Nainital Zoo

Nainital, Apr 30 (ANI): Whether alive or dead, a snow leopardess remains one of the main attractions of the G B Pant High Altitude Zoo in Nainital.

Rani, the snow leopardess, died last week at the zoo, but her body is being preserved using taxidermy techniques.

“This snow leopardess was the main attraction of the zoo for years, and it is also a very rare animal which is only found in snowy regions. And generally, people don’t get to see these snow leopards in forests, too. Therefore, taxidermy is a very important method of preserving such rare animals,” said Parag Madhukar, District Forest Officer (DFO).

Even though there are a lot of stuffed animals on display at zoos and museums in India, many are decades old, and have started showing signs of decay.

“I appreciate the efforts made by the Forest Department of Uttarakhand to preserve the body. Because, be it state museums or national museums, the taxidermic specimens kept there are from he British era, and that is what the public views. But the life of those specimens is also ending now; it has been more than 60-70 years. They have started cracking. So, instead of burning the ead bodies of animals, if we can preserve the bodies and display them in museums, and use them for research, education and forensic purposes,” said S A Gaikwad, a taxidermist. (ANI)