While in Northern Tanzania, filming for Visnews earlier this month, cameraman Paul Toulmin-Rothe came across the trophy preparation workshop of Gustaff Lyimo...East Africa's only fully-qualified taxidermist. This film takes a brief look at trophy mounting preparations at the workshop, where Lying has gained a wide reputation for the quality of his work.

SYNOPSIS: Beside the Usa River, not far from Arusha in Northern Tanzania, the trophy-mounting workshop of Gustaff Lyimo attracts custom not only from all districts of East Africa but from as far afield as Europe. Truckloads of animal skulls and other hunters' trophies arrive in a constant stream, for the 31-year-old Tanzanian is the only fully-qualified taxidermist in East Africa, and has established a wide reputation for the quality of his work.

Skulls such as this undergo thorough cleansing, scraping, and bleaching before being passed for final mounting. Gustav Lyimo, who now has a brother, cousin, and three other helpers working with him, first took an interest in the work 12 years ago while working with Dr Andrea von Nagy... a well-known Hungarian scientist and professional hunter. Eight years later he gained further experience with a taxidermy firm in Kampala.

A special preparation of bleaching agents used by Lyimo enables him to give skulls a whiter appearance than is usually achieved. Following a recommendation from the Hungarian Minister of Agriculture and Wildlife, Gustav Lyimo was sponsored by the Tanzanian and Hungarian Governments at an advanced taxidermy course in Budapest recently. His work is now internationally known.