The Taiwan Insectarium–Hsinchu Branch next to the Hsinchu Zoo reopened on July 27, exhibiting a new tiger specimen made by world-class taxidermist Huang Wen-Jie. It was so lifelike that it gained many startled exclamations of “It looks so real!” from awed visitors. The tiger specimen will be exhibited at the museum until the end of 2021, and the director welcomes the public to visit while following the pandemic prevention guidelines. Following the orangutan Baby specimen from before, this time Huang Wen-Jie presents to the citizens of Hsinchu an elaborate tiger specimen. He says that when making specimens, making it “look like the real thing is the most important,” especially tigers, where a one-centimeter error in facial feature placement makes a great difference. He relied the tiger’s fur, repeatedly adjusting the facial, bodily features and other details to accurately reproduce the tiger’s demeanor, in hopes that visitors old and young can gain a better, deeper understanding of animals through his work.
A well-known taxidermist in Taiwan, Huang Wen-Jie is only 37 years old, but has more than ten years of experience in taxidermy. With a background in life sciences, he bought materials out of his own pocket and taught himself how to make specimens. Starting from birds, he has made specimens of many different animals. Among them, elephants are the most difficult: Besides from being bulky, how to preserve the wrinkles and lines on the elephant skin is also a big challenge that requires at least one year to complete.
According to Huang, the key to restoring the true appearance of animals is the outer skin. Making specimens is not as free as making ordinary sculptures, where you can fill in the blanks with your imagination: It requires a deep understanding of animals, and it takes time to study basics such as muscles and structure from scratch. When fitting the dermis and prosthesis together, the size of the prosthesis would have to be adjusted repeatedly to fit the fur, so as to reproduce and preserve the animal’s original appearance to the greatest extent.
Yang Chu-Yuan, director at the Hsinchu Zoo, said that in addition to the specimens, two new companion capybaras were introduced to the zoo to form a capybara family. The spectacled caiman in the crocodile pool also gained new roomates–a pirarucu, one of the largest freshwater fish in the world, and a temple turtle, one of the largest freshwater turtles.
Ke Hsin-Ping, the director of the Insectarium, mentioned that many interactive courses have opened for registration. On weekends, outdoor travelling courses, such as Field Insect Meetings, will be launched, allowing visitors to observe insects in the wild up close. The Taiwan Insectarium official website (https://reurl.cc/KA7jem) provides more information and chances to sign up for related events.
A well-known taxidermist in Taiwan, Huang Wen-Jie is only 37 years old, but has more than ten years of experience in taxidermy. With a background in life sciences, he bought materials out of his own pocket and taught himself how to make specimens. Starting from birds, he has made specimens of many different animals. Among them, elephants are the most difficult: Besides from being bulky, how to preserve the wrinkles and lines on the elephant skin is also a big challenge that requires at least one year to complete.
According to Huang, the key to restoring the true appearance of animals is the outer skin. Making specimens is not as free as making ordinary sculptures, where you can fill in the blanks with your imagination: It requires a deep understanding of animals, and it takes time to study basics such as muscles and structure from scratch. When fitting the dermis and prosthesis together, the size of the prosthesis would have to be adjusted repeatedly to fit the fur, so as to reproduce and preserve the animal’s original appearance to the greatest extent.
Yang Chu-Yuan, director at the Hsinchu Zoo, said that in addition to the specimens, two new companion capybaras were introduced to the zoo to form a capybara family. The spectacled caiman in the crocodile pool also gained new roomates–a pirarucu, one of the largest freshwater fish in the world, and a temple turtle, one of the largest freshwater turtles.
Ke Hsin-Ping, the director of the Insectarium, mentioned that many interactive courses have opened for registration. On weekends, outdoor travelling courses, such as Field Insect Meetings, will be launched, allowing visitors to observe insects in the wild up close. The Taiwan Insectarium official website (https://reurl.cc/KA7jem) provides more information and chances to sign up for related events.