Australian Wildlife

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.

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.

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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.

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.