A lynx caught in a poacher’s snare and a deer after a car accident: what stories are preserved at the Fauna Museum in Volyn – ua.news

A lynx that died in a poacher’s snare, a deer struck by a car, and a bird in whose body eight shotgun pellets were found after its death—these are the stories preserved at the Shatsk Museum of Fauna in Volhynia. A taxidermy workshop has been operating here for over 50 years, where father and son Boris and Yaroslav Lyushchuk create the exhibits.
The museum houses hundreds of taxidermy specimens of animals and birds, including bison, moose, deer, wolves, lynx, otters, foxes, martens, and many other representatives of Ukrainian wildlife.
Journalists from Suspilne visited the museum and learned how taxidermy specimens are created, why taxidermists refuse to work with illegally obtained animals, and how the collection helps students and researchers.
According to taxidermist Yaroslav Lyushchuk, the Shatsk Museum of Fauna is not just a place for tours. Students also study here, particularly future hunting specialists.
“I’d like to say that this isn’t just a museum—it’s our classroom for studying fauna. Here, we have practically all the animals and birds found in our region, not just in the Volyn Oblast, but throughout Ukraine,” says Yaroslav Lyushchuk.
He says he practically grew up in the museum. He began creating taxidermy specimens back in his school days, and in 2017 he officially began working as a taxidermist.
Prior to that, his father, Boris Lyushchuk, had been a taxidermist for many years.
Boris Lyushchuk began taxidermy while he was still a student. After graduating from technical college, he was assigned to work in the Vinnytsia region but decided to stay in Shatsk.
At that time, the director suggested that he set up a taxidermy workshop and museum there.
“We’d collected so many exhibits—they were lined up all along the hallways—that we decided to build a building dedicated solely to animals and birds,” recalls Boris Lyushchuk.
In 1977, the museum opened in the building where it still operates today. Students, teachers, and other staff members helped build the collection.
To expand the collection, Boris Lyushchuk traveled to the Bialowieza Forest. From there, he brought back large animals—bison, moose, and deer.
According to him, the collection included about 270 species and approximately 400 taxidermy specimens. Boris Lyushchuk created most of the older exhibits himself.
Taxidermy, explains the Volyn native, requires precision, patience, and good hand-eye coordination. Before creating a taxidermy specimen, the master takes the animal’s measurements, studies its proportions, coloration, and photographs.
Modern technologies allow for the use of special plastic molds on which the animal’s natural structure is reproduced. After that, glass eyes, teeth, a tongue, and a palate are installed.
Working with small birds is particularly challenging.
“A large bird is, of course, easier to make because it has more feathers, but it takes longer. A small bird is harder to make. You need very fine motor skills to avoid tearing the feathers or the skin,” explains Yaroslav Lyushchuk.
Before starting work, the feathers need to be cleaned and dried several times. To do this, the taxidermist uses a special brush and even a regular hair dryer.
To wash the feathers, Yaroslav says he sometimes used his wife’s shampoo.
“I wash each bird three or four times before I start working on it—I wash the feathers. I’ve even stolen my wife’s shampoo a couple of times,” he says.
According to Yaroslav Lyushchuk, he even noticed that more expensive shampoo cleans the feathers better.
Not all of the animals that became museum exhibits died as a result of hunting.
One of the deer was found by the roadside near Lutsk after being hit by a car. People reported the dead animal, after which museum staff took the hide and turned it into an exhibit.
The museum also has a lynx that was killed by poachers. It was found in the forest.
Another exhibit is a bird that died after colliding with power lines in Svitiaz. People saw it on the ground and brought it to a taxidermist.
When Yaroslav Lyushchuk began working on the bird, he discovered eight pellets in its body. This indicated that the bird had already been shot before it died from the impact with the wires.
Boris Lyushchuk explains that in the past, some of the exhibits were donated by hunters. These were cases of legal hunting, where the hunter had a special hunting permit or license.
“The ethic of taxidermists is not to accept animals obtained illegally, so we do not accept such specimens,” emphasizes Yaroslav Lyushchuk.
According to the taxidermist, today more and more animals are dying not because of hunting, but as a result of human activity. Cars hit animals and birds, construction alters natural habitats, and human interference affects entire ecosystems.
“The biggest problem today is that we interfere with nature and change it for the worse. Yes, we protect some animals and birds, but we also destroy many,” says Boris Lyushchuk. “I keep telling everyone: the greatest predator, the one that causes the most harm to all others, is man. Even our neighbor who started the war.”
Some of the exhibits in the museum are already 50–60 years old. They were created using techniques that differ from modern ones.
The old taxidermy specimens have eyes made of Plexiglas, and different materials and leather-tanning methods were used to make them.
At the same time, proper storage of the collection remains a problem.
“There needs to be special lighting and a specific temperature, but we’ve never had that, and we still don’t. It’s damp in the fall, cold in the winter, hot in the summer, and the temperature fluctuates,” says Boris Lyushchuk.
Dust, cobwebs, and moths also damage the old exhibits.
The museum doesn’t just house taxidermy specimens. Yaroslav Lyushchuk cleans and bleaches animal skulls, which are then used in student training.
Using these materials, future specialists learn to identify animal species based on their anatomical features.
“They need to know what kind of animal died in the forest and understand the cause of death—why it died there,” explains the taxidermist.
Yaroslav Lyushchuk calls the profession itself a kind of mystery.
“The mystery of taxidermy lies here. There are so many secrets here that can’t even be revealed,” he says.
Despite the age of the collection, the Shatsk Museum of Fauna remains popular among visitors.
According to Yaroslav Lyushchuk, tens of thousands of people visit here every summer. Organized groups, some with as many as 40–50 visitors, also come to the museum.
For a taxidermist, it’s important that people see the exhibits not just as stuffed animals, but as representatives of wildlife that must be protected.
“For our children, our descendants, these animals may only remain in museums. Right now, for example, I’m teaching children and students how to preserve nature,” says Yaroslav Lyushchuk.
The Volyn native also teaches hunting science. According to him, for him this profession is first and foremost connected with nature conservation—protecting animals, feeding them, helping sick wildlife, and preserving the natural environment.
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