Exhibition at Mumbai to showcase 28 specimens from the animal world

In the bird gallery of the Natural History section at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya (CSMVS), stands a greater one-horned Indian rhinoceros, fondly known as Yasin. It is ironic that this thick-skinned juggernaut, who was once a resident of the Byculla zoo, died in 1983 by choking on a little plastic ball that a visitor threw into his enclosure.

A large bear skin rug is part of the exhibition, indicating the excessive exploitation of animals

The theme of CSMVS's first curated natural history exhibition is on similar lines. It is titled Kavach and will showcase 28 specimens from the animal world and 15 accessories, highlighting different protective skins, and, more importantly, the commercial craze for these.

A taxidermy leopard at exhibition. Pics/Sneha Kharabe

"The exhibition's theme is the excessive human exploitation of fur and other kinds of natural armour for everyday and luxury use, that has led to the critically endangered status of many of these animals," says Manoj Chaudhuri, the assistant curator of the natural history section, as we stand dwarfed below enormous leopard skin and bear skin rugs, sourced from the a novelty store-owners ancestral collection.

"We hope to raise environmental awareness through Kavach; the exhibits show protection provided to animals against natural predators, but strangely, these are not enough against the biggest predator of them all - the human race," says Bilwa Kulkarni, education officer at CSMVS.

An estuarine crocodile

All the exhibits are either taxidermy animals or replicas cast in fiberglass and several of them are never-before-seen since they have been specially sourced from the museum's reserve store, which has about 2,000 specimens. "Some of these were shown when George Lloyd, the then governor of Bombay, visited the museum in 1921. The museum's natural history collection grew with specimens gifted by the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) in 1923 as well as later donations by [Indian ornithologist] Salim Ali," says Chaudhuri, as he takes us through the exhibits.

We start with the amphibians and insects and move on to mammals, tracing a sort of evolution across the room. But the tableau that will be of most interest to visitors will be the one dedicated to specialised armour, such as pangolin and the porcupine puffer fish. Right from the Narcondam Hornbill from the Andaman and Nicobar islands to the collared hedgehog found in Kutch, these fauna pay homage to rich diversity found in the Indian subcontinent.

Assistant curator Manoj Chaudhuri explains the chitinous shell of the coconut crab's, found in the Andaman and Nicobar islands;

As preparations for the exhibition progress, a head of a ghariyal and the prized horns of Indian deer will be added. Our favourite exhibit was that of a wild dog or dhole, a beautiful brick-coloured canine found across the country, which unfortunately now is critically endangered.

Will Kavach be of interest only to children? Kulkarni thinks not. "It would be fallacious to say that adults will not be interested in these dioramas and exhibits, considering that the natural history section draws almost one-fourth of visitors to the museum," says Kulkarni.

A pangolin

Kavach - protective coverings of animals
When: August 16 - September 11, 10.15 AM - 6 PM
Where: Curator's Gallery, first floor, CSMVS, Kala Ghoda
Entry: Rs 70
Call: 22844484