Carl Akeley

First and foremost, Akeley believed and was obsessively committed to the idea that taxidermy could produce mounted animals that look not just lifelike, but alive. Akeley was equally committed to presenting mounts in the context of their scientifically accurate environments and social interactions. • Illustration — Gorilla diorama is one of Akeley's dioramas, which is on display in the American Museum of Natural History. Akeley's techniques resulted in anatomically accurate, skinless manikins of an animal in lifelike actions and postures. The mannequin was extremely lightweight and hollow and made primarily of papier mache and wire mesh. Akeley based the mannequin on precise field measurements and photographs as well as his understanding of the animal's anatomy and behavior in its natural environment. After creating the mannequin, the hide and hooves were meticulously attached. The steps to the Akeley Method: • Akeley first sculpted a detailed and precise 1/12th scale clay model of his ultimate mount • He then built an armature using: skeletal bones, wood, metal rods, wire, and wire mesh • Akeley then covered the armature with plaster and then clay, which he sculpted to produce an exact model of the living animal • He then coated the clay model with plaster. When dry, the plaster mold was removed from the clay in sections and resulted in a perfect mold of the sculpted model • Papier mache pulp and supportive mesh wire was applied to the inside of the plaster mold and when dried produced a full-scale hollow mannequin in the exact form of the original sculpture • The mannequin was clothed with the original pelt and sewn up so that not a seam is discernible

• Illustration — Carl Akeley and the leopard he killed barehanded. Akeley-Derscheid Expedition Akeley first traveled to Africa in 1896 when he was invited by Daniel Elliot, Curator of the Zoology Department in the new Columbian Field Museum, on an eight month expedition to Somaliland. It was on this trip that Akeley came face to face with a deadly 80-pound leopard which he strangled with his bare hands, however the animal had previously been shot in one of its hind limbs which could have caused the attack to fail. Akeley collected hundreds of animal specimens including: hartebeest, gazelles, hyenas, kudus, oryx, and lions. The process of collecting specimens included: killing, measuring, photographing, skinning, de-boning, preserving, and packing them for shipment back to Chicago. In 1905, Marshall Field funded Akeley’s next trip to Africa which lasted twelve months and brought back two bull elephants which he would later mount for display. Akeley took nearly 1,000 glass plate photos and collected 17 tons of material including: 400 mammal skins, 1200 small mammal skins, 800 bird skins, and a fair number of bird and mammal skeletons. In addition to zoologic material he also collected more than 900 anthropological specimens and crates of leaves that he would use as models for his dioramas. In 1909, Akeley accompanied Theodore Roosevelt on a year-long expedition in Africa funded by the Smithsonian Institution and began working at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, where his efforts can still be seen in the Akeley Hall of African Mammals. Akeley joined the Explorers Club in 1912, having been sponsored by three of the Club's seven Charter Members: Frank Chapman, Henry Collins Walsh, and Marshall Saville. For qualifying, Akeley wrote only, "Explorations in Somaliland and British East Africa." He became the Club's sixth president serving from 1917–1918. • Illustration — "The Old Man of Mikeno", bronze bust of a mountain gorilla by Carl Akeley In 1921, eager to learn about gorillas, Akeley led an expedition to Mt. Mikeno in the Virunga Mountains at the edge of the then Belgian Congo. At that time, gorillas were quite exotic, with very few even in zoos, and collecting such animals for educational museum exhibitions was not uncommon. During the expedition, he became the first person to capture motion pictures of gorillas in their native environment. In the process of "collecting" (killing) several mountain gorillas, Akeley's attitude changed. He discovered that gorillas were not the aggressive creatures that had been described by game hunters and popular media, and he set about to correct the record. The gorilla is a vegetarian, so he kills no animals for food, and he has not progressed sufficiently along the paths of man to enjoy killing as a sport. He lives in amity with the elephants, buffalo, and all the wild creatures of his neighbourhood. For the remainder of his life, Akeley worked for the establishment of a gorilla preserve in the Virungas. His work inspired King Albert I of Belgium to establish the Albert National Park (since renamed Virunga National Park) in 1925. It was Africa's first national park. Opposed to hunting them for sport or trophies, Akeley remained an advocate of collection for scientific and educational purposes. Akeley began his fifth journey to the Congo with the start of the dry season in late 1926. He died on November 18 of dysentery and was buried in Africa, just miles from where he encountered his first gorilla, the "Old Man of Mikeno".

• Illustration — Lion Spearing in Africa (1926) Field Museum, Chicago; Bronze sculpture by Carl Akeley. The World Taxidermy & Fish Carving Championships awards gold medallions that bear Carl Akeley's likeness—based on a photograph he had taken at Stein Photography in Milwaukee—to its "Best in World" winners. There is also a Carl Akeley Award for the most artistic mount at the World Show. The medallions were sculpted by Floyd Easterman of the Milwaukee Public Museum. The Akeley Hall of African Mammals of the American Museum of Natural History and the Akeley Memorial Hall at The Field Museum are named for him.