natural history dioramas at the Swaziland National Museum

Here are two of the wonderful dioramas located in the Natural History wing of the Swaziland National Museum. The two dioramas that you see here is the "lowveld" environment, which is hot, sunny and contains grasses that dry out.

These animals were "taken" by a Smithsonian staff member, Paul Rimer, and members of the Swaziland National Museum. The skins were cleaned and dried out, and fitted over plastic forms. Rimer came to the museum to help train staff in taxidermy and creating realistic environments for the flora and fauna.

Unfortunately, the wooden rails,
beautifully built by the on-staff carpentar
are too low, and students and other
visitors climb over, trampling the grasses. We are in conversation as to how to get these rebuilt -- because why bother replace the grasses and put out other materials, if the same thing will happen?

Also, the lovely apples on the Malula tree in this photo are often touched by visitors and need repair. Unfortunately, the museum is so completely pressed for money that this wing of the museum has not been refurbished for 10 years and it shows signs of wear. In fact, the wing was never fully completed, and some of the exhibit cases are nearly empty.