2009 World Taxidermy Championship

Just awful :(
I hope those animals didn't die for the sole purpose of being used as stuffed animals.
The pieces are nice I guess, but.... I dunno......
it's just sad. I'd rather see them alive than stuffed.
Or at least know that the meat from the animals didn't go to waste.

It just seems so... unneccessary.

I'm trying to imagine what type of troglodyte decor those would go with.

This is the sort of thing that gets me wanting to try taxidermy. There's so much more creativity than simply mounting heads.

That's just wrong. Killing animals for no other reason than to mount in poses and on walls.

Almost all of animals have died a natural death or were legally hunted. ie, like the small fawn, the calf, etc. A friend of mine in middle school had a calf taxidermied in their home. It was the smallest calf ever born (dunno if they still have that record) alive, but it of course did not live very long.

I find taxidermy interesting, because of the fact that you're using the hide of an animal and making it so natural and realistic. You have to have a good knowledge of animals and their physique to do it!

"legal hunting" is a really loose term- there are a lot of "wild game farms" here in texas (and elsewhere) that allow you to go up to penned, hand fed lions, gazelle, water buffalo, giaffes etc. and shoot them- for a fee of course.
it's not hunting. it's shooting caged animals, and it shouldn't be legal. it's a cheap thrill for some moron with a gun to feel like a big man.
i'm all for hunting to thin herds, to put the meat to use etc., but most of those animals are thrill kills, and that's wrong.

taxidermy itself is pretty interesting, and those are well done examples..but the piece behind it....egads.

I'm not a hunter, and I don't really see the point of hunting for sport. I thought this was interesting, but not something I'd want in my home.

This in an improvement on those dull museum exhibits where the animals are standing statically around. You get a sense of what they can actually do.

They have the right to stuff, but do they have the Right Stuff?

I imagine the hardest part of taxidermy would be following a particular, beautiful animal until it passes away from completely natural causes.

I'm a Taxidermist and truly love the art. All the wildlife I mount is leagally taken (no it's not caged and I agree that should be illegal) and the meat is used. Atleast the hide and horns, antlers ect, can be used and not waisted to recreate the natural beauty of the animal. I personally don't believe in only hunting for sport. That's not respecting the animals at all. When I hunt I'm hunting for meat through the winter and if I get one that's big, then that's just an added bonus to the hunt.

Brilliant.

Book your next Africa Safaris with Hennie Viljoen Africa Hunting Safaris.

Follow me on facebook :http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1639595400&ref=name

2010 Season : 6 X Lions Availble, 3 Leopards , Buffalo and all Plains Game. Packages availble from as little as 4500 US$