Whilst I found the dog display at Tring fascinating I was saddened by the big groups of Great Apes displayed , many very young . These would all have been shot in the wild . At least that was not how Guy died - though probably his mother and possibly other members of his wild family group would have died when he was collected .
Natural History Museum Guy the Gorilla back on display
- Thread starter Shirokuma
- Start date
I can understand different people/organisations having different views about the taxidermy of our nearest relations and why this can therefore be an emotive issue. A number of zoos have statues made of their most famous Gorilla but the dead animal has also become a museum display too e.g. Guy, Alfred (Bristol Zoo), (probably) Jambo at Jersey, also Bushman and Phil (Chicago and St Louis Zoos, USA), possibly 'Bobby' at Berlin also. Edinburgh have a statue of their early Sumatran Orangutan family but the mounted animals are also in the Edinburgh museum.
One person I am sure would never have considered such an outcome for his Apes was the late John Aspinall- I believe all the Gorillas that have died at his two collections are buried there as they were very much regarded as part of his extended family. There is also a statue of one of their earlier males 'Gugis' near the Gorilla enclosures at Howletts.
I think if I was emotionally involved with any of the animals e.g. as keeper or owner then I probably wouldn't want that to happen to them either. I must admit to have a slightly uneasy feeling about the idea of a stuffed 'Jambo'.
Unfortunately it was all too common in those days- a number of other big museums around the World have similar 'family' group displays of Apes as Tring. Thankfully at least Gorillas/Apes are not(normally) merely shot as trophies anymore.
I'd agree with that theory too.
Which you are entitled to do, did you ever visit Guy when he was alive and well at London zoo?
I am sure Mr. Aspinall would not have done this, he had far to much respect for his fellow creatures
Never had the chance I'm afraid - I wasn't born until 6 years after he died.
I'm not someone who generally gets sentimental about individual zoo animals, you're correct with that implication. I think (as with taxidermy of deceased pets) it's a decision for those who looked after the animal.
To be honest, if I did care that much about an animal I'd be happy to see something of it preserved.
I very much remember Guy when he was alive, I can’t wait to see him back on display at the NHM. To be honest, I wish more zoo animals ended up on display in museums; it seems a waist to incinerate them when so many museums have faded old moth eaten exhibits.
To digress slightly, it’s interesting the amount of human remains on public display. There are some fantastic catacombs in Palermo (a real subterranean city of the dead) and in Otranto, Italy; they have six hundred skeletons on the walls of the cathedral. For anyone who thinks displaying human remains is a thing of the past check out the Bodyworks exhibitions; they’re amazing.
To digress slightly, it’s interesting the amount of human remains on public display. There are some fantastic catacombs in Palermo (a real subterranean city of the dead) and in Otranto, Italy; they have six hundred skeletons on the walls of the cathedral. For anyone who thinks displaying human remains is a thing of the past check out the Bodyworks exhibitions; they’re amazing.
That's more or less what the Bodyworlds exhibitions are - though the bodies (of volunteers!) are 'plasticised' rather than stuffed. It makes for a fascinating display - I saw one of the exhibitions some years ago in London.
