The Kahutara Taxidermy Gallery collection. Photo: Carol Green / CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
The New Zealand Taxidermy Association competition gets underway on Wednesday and while it might seem whacky to some, it's not necessarily easy.
There were more than 50 entries for the competition being held at the Taupō Arts Centre.
Taxidermy competition celebrates 21 years in Taupō
New Zealand Taxidermy Association president David Mowbray said a key rule was no domestic pets.
"It's surprising how many people ring up saying 'look I'm about to put down my dog can I get it mounted'... personally I wouldn't touch it."
Looking the most alive was the aim of the game, he told Morning Report.
"You're trying to duplicate anatomically how the animal would be in the wild... There's lots of little nuances in terms of things like membranes, the structure of the animal, it's not just putting a skin on a mannequin.
"There's quite a lot in it actually."
There were a number of categories in the annual competition: mammals larger than a fox, small mammals, shoulder mounts, birds, fish, crustaceans and reptiles.
There's also categories for reproductions, re-creations, and freeze dry. And there's five divisions for junior, novice, open, masters and collective artists.
Mowbray said it was a form of art.
Each year a different American judge comes to New Zealand. This year it's Jacob Clark who the Association described as a "multi-award winning master taxidermist with over 30 years experience".
The feedback provided by the judge also made it quite an educational experience, Mowbray said.
He said there was a good business opportunity in taxidermy for anyone interested, and you didn't need much space.
"You don't need a lot of capital tied up in it, you can basically do it on the kitchen table.
"We're getting a few people enquiring about that and what we're trying to do is support that and get them up and going."