Shenzhen Museum – Taxidermy Exhibits

If you enjoy the taxidermy specimens in Buckhorn Exchange, here’s more in the Shenzhen Museum.

Situated right at the main lobby of the Shenzhen Museum are two huge specimens of an African elephant and giraffe. They are not made from fibreglass and are real stuffed animals donated by Kenneth E. Behring.

Who is Kenneth E Behring

Kenneth Eugene Behring (1928 – 2019) was an American real estate developer, and former owner of the National Football League’s Seattle Seahawks. On the night of his birth in Freeport, Illinois, Ken Behring’s mother was rushed to the hospital, but her child was born in an elevator en route to the delivery room. Behring liked to say that he was impatient for life to begin and that he never waited for things to happen ever since.

After he sold the Seahawks in 1988 for a considerable profit, Behring then became fully involved in a nonprofit organization he called the Wheelchair Foundation, which delivers hundreds of thousands of wheelchairs to poor, disabled people on five continents.

He was also famous for his collection of taxidermy animals which he generously donated to museums around the world, including the Smithsonian. This collection was mainly from his donation.

What is Taxidermy

Taxidermy is the art of preserving an animal’s body via mounting or stuffing, for the purpose of display or study. Animals are often, but not always, portrayed in a lifelike state.

The exhibition is divided into three main parts; the African grasslands, the American prairie and the Artic glaciers.

You either like these kinds of stuffed animals or not, but you have to appreciate the effort for amassing such a collection (and this is not the only museum Behring has donated to!).

The Artic Circle

The American Prairie

The African Safari

The Predators

The Preys