Behind the Scenes: Mammal Gallery Decant

Photo Galleries | Updated 7 years ago


The Mammal Gallery decant from the Western Australian Museum - Perth to the Collections and Research Centre (CRC) at Welshpool has been a huge undertaking for all involved. 

It allowed Museum staff the opportunity to update records and complete conservation work on the precious specimens. 

Soula Veyradier, Manager, Western Australian Museum - Perth, said that the decant was a unique opportunity to work with the animals outside their display cases.  

We were lucky to see animals hanging out together outside of their regular showcases and the fact that they populated the gallery in a less formal setting made their individual personalities come out more!

Curator of Terrestrial Zoology, Kenny Travouillon said of the photoshoot images - 

When Soula took those photos, we were photographing the Zebra. It just happened that the Tiger was stored next to the photography stand. Soula wanted to document the photography process but then it became quite artistic by taking the photos at an angle, showing the Tiger in the background.

The process for decanting each individual mammal from the gallery was quite complicated, and involved many steps. Each specimen was carefully tested and cleaned, after which a condition report was performed, the specimen was photographed, and then packed into a box or onto a stillage, depending on their size.

Click the images below to find out more about transporting Museum specimens and objects, and the Mammal Gallery decant.