Last taxidermist keeps on stuffing

Only person authorized by government preserves animals for museums and grieving pet lovers

When Santosh Gaikwad, India's last-known practicing taxidermist, first started stuffing animals 13 years ago he would keep dead birds in his family's freezer at home, much to his wife's consternation.

Now, as the head of India's only taxidermy center, he enjoys the use of two deep freezers large enough to hold a lion - at the government-run workshop in Mumbai's national park.