Nibeditaa SpeaksA brown bear who has been patiently waiting in a museum for the past 60 years might have finally found his true calling. The stuffed animal star of Chelmsford City Museum is helping researchers in their fight against wildlife crime.
Boris, the taxidermy brown bear, has been helping researchers after waiting patiently for 60 years in the museum. According to recent findings, experts have been studying the fur of the bear in order to come up with ways of identifying illegal wildlife products.
The Museum of Chelmsford tweeted that the “incredible” bear has been helping forensic scientists more than 50 years after he died. Experts hope that the features in the hairs of the brown bear will help them come up with a method of identifying the species of animals whose body parts are smuggled illegally.
According to the BBC report, the research is being carried out by a forensic science graduate student named Hayden Leigh. He has been studying the features of the hairs of Boris for his PhD. The researcher is trying to come up with ways of identifying the species of animals based on their hairs microscopically. He is also hoping to come up with ways the forensic scientists could use the findings to help in their fight against wildlife crime.
Hayden explains that being able to identify the species of the animal whose hair it is would help the investigators narrow down the species of the illegally traded animal product. He says that wildlife crime scenes mostly have animal remains, fur, and other animal parts. Investigators who go through such scenes would need to know the species of the animal part in order to determine what wildlife product is illegally traded.
This would be vital since it would help the authorities determine whether the traded animal product is an endangered species. However, DNA testing is a costly affair, and the investigator might not always have the resources to do the testing. The researcher is hoping that his work on the hairs of Boris would help the investigators come up with ways of identifying the species of animal based on their hairs.
His work on the hairs of the taxidermy brown bear is expected to help the experts fighting wildlife crime to get a new insight into the analysis of animal hairs. He hopes that his work would help them come up with ways of identifying the species of the animal without having to use costly DNA testing equipment.
The Museum of Chelmsford has been displaying the taxidermy brown bear since 1932. According to the BBC report, the bear has since become a local attraction after being donated to the museum by a local gamekeeper. However, it seems that the fame of Boris is set to increase even further after his contribution to helping experts fight wildlife crime.
To conclude, the research carried out on the stuffed animal of the brown bear has helped forensic scientists come up with new ways of analyzing animal hairs. It has also helped the researchers realize the importance of museum collections in helping the public and forensic analysts. After spending 60 years in the museum, the taxidermy bear is helping his city in a whole new way.
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