Projects
Polar bear skin
The skin was on the bathroom of a private house for many years and then the house opened to the public, and unfortunately the skin was badly damaged. The head was trodden on and the eyes were loose, the ears were broken and the nose was completely split, showing historic repairs. There had also been expanding foam dripped on it, where they had tried to reattach the eyes with this foam. It was very dirty and stained.
The polar bear was taken for conservation and had to be cleaned with a number of different solvents as there were yellow stains throughout the fur which turned out to be expanding foam residue. This was extremely difficult and timely to remove. It left the fur dyed yellow, which is an issue as polar bear fur is in fact colourless. The images show some of the damage and the finished specimen. It also shows how I store some specimens. This needed to be fully covered and has had tissue wadding throughout to help support the creases, by being in a sturdy lightweight box it is fully protected from dirt, light and the pressure of other objects resting on or against it
