Background

He was born on a farm in Clarendon, N.Y. Reared in what was then a wilderness in upper New York State, he learned to love the forest and lived much of his youth within it studying the habits of wild creatures.

During his early boyhood Akeley grew incensed at the shabby manner by which taxidermists of his day stuffed and mounted animals into distorted shapes with crude stitchings. He was astounded that such creatures of beauty could be made to appear so unreal and ugly, not faintly resembling the graceful inhabitants of the deep woods.

Career

He became imbued with a lifelong desire to mount animals for museums and scientific institutions that would come alive with their original charm and beauty, and reveal something of the atmosphere from within the great forest. Through years of painstaking experimentation and endless research he finally developed a method and gave to the world his results.

His belief at the outset was that to become a true taxidermist, one had first to live out an apprenticeship in the forest, studying the animals to learn their intricate habits. A taxidermist needed to be an explorer, a skilled sketcher and painter, a sculptor, and a thorough photographer. But above all, he must love animals and the world of forest and jungle.

The Carl Akeley method of mounting animals has to this day basically never been improved upon. The desirable specimen of animal is selected. Then it is photographed in its various actions and moods. After it is captured, it is extensively measured. It is skinned from the inside, with only two special incisions made so as not to mar the animal's beauty. From the measurements, a muslin model is made over wire mesh. The final step is to stretch the original skin over the model so that is reassumes its natural lifelike appearance.

Achievements

• The experience necessary to develop this process was not easily obtained, and Akeley spent many years in patient practice. This system won for him many international prizes, high esteem, and awe on viewing his extraordinarily realistic animals. His superb exhibits, as well as his sculptured works and paintings, may be seen today in the Akeley Hall in the Museum of Natural History in New York and in the Chicago Museum of Natural History.
  
  Akeley's other accomplishments include his books, which can be found in many libraries throughout the world. He gave to posterity a remarkable panoramic movie camera, and the Akeley cement gun used today by most taxidermists throughout the world in mounting their exhibits. In addition, he left 37 patents of various utilities for taxidermists. He led two of the largest safaris or exploration expeditions that the world has ever known into Africa.

Connections

He was an intimate friend of President Theodore Roosevelt and George Eastman of Eastman Kodak.