Within the last few years the number of Polish hunters going out for safari has been constantly growing. Not everybody can afford this expensive hobby and not everybody can be a professional hunter. Jewelers, petrol station owners, businessmen and even bakers head to Namibia, Tanzania or Kamchatka to search for trophies. The only key is money. Every hunter’s dream is to shoot down the big five: lion, elephant, buffalo, rhinoceros and leopard. Such expensive wish costs up to few dozen thousands Euro. Those who can’t afford the exotic safari and the big five, go for hunting to Belarusian forests where one can still shoot the species which are protected in Poland and European Union. Once the big five are dead, hunters prepare the place on their walls to fill them with trophies. These private exhibits remind of a strange paradise for all kinds of animals. This is the only place where an antelope can exist next to a lion without having fear of being killed. Because the antilope has already been killed. Hunters and taxidermists function side by side. Taxidermists have lot of work. They are not threatend with extinction like some of the animals they stuff. However there are only few specialists who get big and serious assignments. The animal has to look like alive and has often to remain in a dynamic positions. Its second life has to last for many years. Nobody likes taxidermists. Ecologists consider them to be animal killers and say the profession is unethical. People prefer to think that they don’t exist at all. Only hunters understand them, and not only as their clients. They share the same passion for animals. A passion of chasing, killing and adoration. The work is dirty and stinky but they love it. Each animal has to be prepared with solicitude and care in order to look perfectly. The clients are rich and the market is growing. “Everybody wants to have the big five” says a local businessman and hunter form central Poland “My goal is to have the big five multiplied by five.” His hunting house looks like a museum. Dozens of stuffed animals from all over the world hang on his walls. The windows are closed to protect the exhibits from flies. „Everything is legal here” says the owner „I have papers for each animal” he adds immediately. Smuggling of protected species is also part of the business. Every year custom officers prevent few hundreds of endangered animals (some of them still alive) from getting into sole Poland. Taxidermists try to avoid doubtful assignments but not everything can be checked. Business is business.
Within the last few years the number of Polish hunters going out for safari has been constantly growing. Not everybody can afford this expensive hobby and not everybody can be a professional hunter. Jewelers, petrol station owners, businessmen and even bakers head to Namibia, Tanzania or Kamchatka to search for trophies. The only key is money. Every hunter’s dream is to shoot down the big five: lion, elephant, buffalo, rhinoceros and leopard. Such expensive wish costs up to few dozen thousands Euro. Those who can’t afford the exotic safari and the big five, go for hunting to Belarusian forests where one can still shoot the species which are protected in Poland and European Union. Once the big five are dead, hunters prepare the place on their walls to fill them with trophies. These private exhibits remind of a strange paradise for all kinds of animals. This is the only place where an antelope can exist next to a lion without having fear of being killed. Because the antilope has already been killed. Hunters and taxidermists function side by side. Taxidermists have lot of work. They are not threatend with extinction like some of the animals they stuff. However there are only few specialists who get big and serious assignments. The animal has to look like alive and has often to remain in a dynamic positions. Its second life has to last for many years. Nobody likes taxidermists. Ecologists consider them to be animal killers and say the profession is unethical. People prefer to think that they don’t exist at all. Only hunters understand them, and not only as their clients. They share the same passion for animals. A passion of chasing, killing and adoration. The work is dirty and stinky but they love it. Each animal has to be prepared with solicitude and care in order to look perfectly. The clients are rich and the market is growing. “Everybody wants to have the big five” says a local businessman and hunter form central Poland “My goal is to have the big five multiplied by five.” His hunting house looks like a museum. Dozens of stuffed animals from all over the world hang on his walls. The windows are closed to protect the exhibits from flies. „Everything is legal here” says the owner „I have papers for each animal” he adds immediately. Smuggling of protected species is also part of the business. Every year custom officers prevent few hundreds of endangered animals (some of them still alive) from getting into sole Poland. Taxidermists try to avoid doubtful assignments but not everything can be checked. Business is business.