Pakistan’s only taxidermist preserves Indus dolphin

A dead Indus dolphin has been preserved by the country's only taxidermist, Muhammad Irfan, for the first time.

"Previously we would bury them in a graveyard. This is the first one we have preserved in Karachi," Sindh Wildlife Department (SWD) deputy conservator in Sukkur Adnan Khan told The Express Tribune.

Irfan, on the other hand, terms the feat an "achievement." Elaborating further, he said, "The dolphin's mount took several days [to complete]. Dolphin skin is oily and not easy to handle."

Lauding his efforts, SWD conservator Javed Ahmed Mahar said, "He is an artist, after all. He knows how to accomplish a challenge."

Since 1992, Around 143 Indus River dolphins, including 27 dead ones, have been recovered.

One of a kind

Taxidermy is the art of preserving an animal's body via mounting it, and according to wildlife experts, Irfan is the only one in the country who excels in it.

According to Mahar, there is no taxidermist in the SWD and with no choice left, they often have to request Irfan for favours.

Over the past 40 years, the 64-year-old retiree, who is a resident of Shah Faisal Colony, has mounted countless animals, making them appear as good as alive. Putting it in his own words, "You'll feel they are still thriving."

His workshop is his rooftop, which he deems the ideal place for the purpose. He spends hours there, impelled by his love for the art, reviving the beauty of all kinds of animals - fish, birds, mammals and reptiles. It takes him no more than a few days to mount an animal, which can then retain its shape and beauty for another 40 years to come, provided that it is looked after with utmost care, according to Irfan.

Sharing his experience, Irfan told The Express Tribune that he had never said no to any assignment, no matter how challenging it was. Giving an example, he added, "I recently preserved a turtle, which is not an easy feat at all."

The self-taught artist

According to Irfan, he mastered the art of taxidermy solely driven by his passion and dedication, even though he did not attend any school or institute to learn it.

Nevertheless, his training goes back to his teenage years, when he would often visit the Empress Market to collect the carcasses of animals and birds.

He would preserve them and then sell them in Saddar, he recalled.

The closest he came to getting training in the art form was when he stumbled across an American citizen, who imparted to him all that he knew about taxidermy. Their meeting lasted only a day and ended with the American leaving behind the basics of taxidermy imprinted in Irfan's mind, along with a book on the subject.

A dying art

Later, in 1983, Irfan joined the SWD as an assistant taxidermist and retired in 2016, still serving on the same post.

"I was never promoted and no institution ever approached me to transfer my skill to others," he said morosely. "I am here to teach. I want to see this art surviving in the country even after my death. But I don't see it being practiced anywhere and no one wants to learn the art," he lamented.

Along the same lines, Mahar too stressed the need to make use of Irfan's services for training others in this "amazing art."

However, both Mahar and Irfan's wish remain a distant dream with very few valuing the art of taxidermy.

According to Irfan, only elites who can afford animal mounts approach him for his services. "They use them to decorate their drawing rooms and respect my work," he said.

And it appears that after Irfan, taxidermy's remnants in the country may only be seen in these few drawing rooms - the luxurious graveyards memorialising a forgotten art.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 29^th, 2020.