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Australian Wildlife

5/5/2012

4 Comments

 
Wow, there is so much to talk about.  Australian wildlife is so diverse and so interesting.  I have worked with wildlife as a wildlife carer and shelter manager for many years and now I am concentrating on education.

Just last week I took my class to the Australian National Wildlife Collection at Gungahlin CSIRO in Canberra. 

Every described bird, mammal, reptile and amphibian is there.  We found out that there are three different ways to preserve animals:
Skins:  where animals are basically emptied out and stuffed with cotton wool !   However, it is a bit more detailed than that.  The organs, big muscles and some bones, and the brain and eyes are removed.  The idea is to have very little tissue that will rot.  What is left will just dry out.  Then carefully stuff it with cotton wool so that the shape is the same as the live animal.  Sew it up and arrange the animal so when it dried it looks as normal as possible.  To achieve this simply wrap the body in light fabric until it is dry.
Picture

a female satin bower bird drying after being preserved as a skin

All birds are kept in a climate controlled room inside huge metal cabinets, each with drawers for smaller birds or shelves for larger birds.  It was quite cold in that room.

Every specimen has a tag which describes its common name, scientific name, where and when it was found, and a description of its 'soft parts' (colour, texture etc) because after death these things are different.

Spirit specimens: The second method of preserving specimens is by simply putting them into 70% alcohol.  This preserves the whole animal. 
The room housing the spirit collection was very, very cold, but that was because it was very, very cold outside.  (Remember this is Canberra in May.  It was 2.5 degrees as I was driving to work and there had been a frost.)  The air in this room is circulated constantly with the outside air to prevent any alcohol fumes building up and causing an explosion.  that would totally destroy the whole collection!  Specimen bottles were kept on shelves in compactor cabinets.
Skeleton:  The third method of preserving is removing everything and leaving the skeleton.  Of course without the tendons and tissues there is nothing to hold the bones together.  Dermestid beetles are used to eat all the bits left after the specimen has had most of the tissue and organs removed.  They eat the leftovers and very kindly leave the bones behind.  Any time you see a very dead animal on the side of the road you can turn it over and see little beetles and grubs on the carcass.  These are dermestids.  Luckily they only eat dead flesh.
Picture
Sulphur crested cocktoo
The National Wildlife Collection also sends tissue specimens to researchers all over the world.

Have you ever thought about the drawings in Field Guides for identification of wildlife?  Artists visit the collection and draw from real animals.
4 Comments
Elly Fenton
5/5/2012 12:14:17 pm

Marg, that is really interesting

Reply
Gerry
2/21/2015 06:21:38 pm

Hi
Danny is ok dispite his injury I have been informed. Cheersgerfy

Reply
Katy Newmarch
5/6/2012 12:27:44 pm

I learnt quite a lot during the visit to the National Wild life Collection. I found most interesting the Striped Possum and how it taps on the branches of trees looking for hollows. When it hears an empty spot it digs it’s claws in to get grubs to eat. It has evolved to have especially long fingers for this purpose.
I also found it interesting to note that when animals die their colours change, so when people are out shooting and collecting specimens they need to note straight away the colours of the bird or animal so as to properly identify it.
I also learnt that collectors have to go through massive amounts of paperwork and protocol before they can even begin to shoot and collect. There is the state or territory legislations to abide by, but there is also the consideration of the Aboriginal beliefs and ceremonies…eg during an initiation ceremony the initiates are not allowed to see white people so the collectors must respect that and not enter that territory. There are also certain birds that are sacred to the Aboriginals so cannot be killed.
And I found it interesting that whilst animals are preserved in a 70% alcohol solution when they are kept, they must be stored in a 20% alcohol solution for air travel as 70% alcohol is considered dangerous goods. Keeping these animals also requires a dangerous goods license.

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Marg
5/19/2012 02:16:55 pm

Other student comments were related to the:
1. complexity of licensing required to collect animals including obtaining permission from indigenous communities to be on their land, and adhering to any conditions they may set.
2. birds are shot for the collection - bullets are made at the AWC so the size is relevant to the size of the bird.
3. there are three monotreme species: the platypus, the short-beaked echidna and the long-beaked echidna.

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    Marg Peachey - Calligrapher and Australian Wildlife Educator

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