Nothing looks quite so menacing as a beast baring its teeth, but Canterbury Museum visitors greeted by a wild-looking South African baboon can relax - it's stuffed.
Canterbury Museum's Scott Reeves and a South African baboon. Photo: Supplied
The primate is one of 58 taxidermied animals and birds going on display as part of the museum's new Fur, Fangs and Feathers exhibition this summer.
The weird and wonderful specimens have been selected from the museum's collection of almost 10,000 taxidermied animals, bought or exchanged by curators over more than 150 years.
The creatures come from all over the world, including a hulking Arctic muskox, spectacular Andean condor, North American bison and now-extinct Tasmanian tiger, or thylacine.
Canterbury Museum's senior natural history curator Paul Scofield said many of the animals on display were preserved by some of the most famous taxidermists of the 19th century.
"The 19th century taxidermists were at the top of their game," Scofield said.
"Many of them, it would be really quite difficult if you took a photograph to realise that they weren't living animals."
Some of the animals are in pristine condition, like the brown bear first displayed in the museum in the 1870s, but others need a little grooming.
"We have to brush them, spruce them up, make sure that their teeth are nice and shiny and their eyes have a bit of a glint in them.
"You don't actually realise quite how ugly, quite how skulking or tiny some of these things are."
Canterbury Museum's Dr Paul Scofield and Andean condor. Photo: Supplied
The South African baboon was collected in the 1880s and shows the typical threat posture of the male species.
"They have the ability to basically pull up their upper lip so their whole gum is showing, that exposes all the teeth.
"They have two very large canines, so it's a very threatening posture, but visitors don't need to worry, he's behind perspex, so there's no threat."
Other taxidermists have done a less sophisticated job.
"There are a couple of shockers. The Tasmanian Devil is certainly not what I'd call a great piece of taxidermy art.
"It looks more like a very over-stuffed cat, rather than the really quite vicious and scary animal that they actually are."
Museum visitors will learn about each animal's habitat and the threats they face from climate change and their vulnerability to extinction.
The exhibition runs from 18 December until 27 March.
The Tasmanian Devil. Photo: Supplied
