What does ethically sourced mean in taxidermy?

For us, ethical sourcing means that all of our taxidermy mounts are old, died a natural death, or were never recently hunted or killed for sports. In fact, most of our frames are at least fifteen years old. So what is the supposed difference between ethical taxidermy and the old normal taxidermy? It all comes down, at least according to our New York taxidermist, to the origin of the animals. And doing your taxidermy work yourself is the best way to make sure the animals have been “ethically sourced.” My mind was already moving forward, trying to figure out what “ethical source” could mean in this context.

Perhaps collecting the corpses of animals that have been killed by cars and whose bodies would otherwise end up in a landfill or processing plant? Maybe use animals that have been hunted under a certain code of honor? Hunting and assembling animals for sport still exists all over the world, but most stores like ours maintain a desire for ethical sourcing. At Iron Crow, we strive to source our parts with as much knowledge as possible. For us, ethically sourced taxidermy (and other historical elements) means that all of our taxidermy mounts are old, died a natural death, or were never recently hunted or killed for sport. No animals have been killed specifically for our use and Iron Crow has complied with all legal obligations and requirements for the sale of these products.

There are many ways to ethically source animals, mainly from zoos, aviaries and wildlife refuges, where animals die naturally. She obtains animal skins from fur traders, often specifically looking for those that have been damaged or “archived, meaning they cannot be used for traditional taxidermy. In May, I was interviewed about my thoughts and opinions on ethical taxidermy, the misconceptions of the trade about what my favorite piece is and what motivates me to create. In the current era, natural history museums around the world are looking to use more ethical teaching tools and many are reconsidering these types of outdated exhibits altogether.

Some people believe that animals that are by-products of the food chain, such as reptile food, are ethical. Most of my work contains bones from real, ethically sourced animals that are small and extremely fragile. An “ethical taxidermist from Cleveland told the New York Times that the animals she uses, which are mostly small creatures such as rabbits, guinea pigs, mice and squirrels, “were not killed by art. They often work with small creatures such as birds and rodents instead of huge deer or bears, and pursue their trade by ethically acquiring animals that have died naturally and, therefore, distance the art of taxidermy from hunting.

In my opinion, the deer or moose killed by a hunter has been more “ethically sourced” than these small creatures. Sometimes it's an ethical dilemma when it comes to obtaining specimens and customers come with their own specimens. Professionals want to demonstrate “that taxidermy is ethical, that animal deaths are not related to art.