Taxidermy: 200 stuffed animals get a spring clean

The stuffed animals at a museum have been getting their spring clean.

Every five years, a team of specialist cleaners at Leicester's New Walk Museum spend about eight weeks painstakingly removing dust from the taxidermy exhibits.

They use a special vacuum cleaner and fine brushes to clean the animals while the displays are closed to the public.

Some of the creatures, including an orang-utan, several polar bears and dozens of birds, date back to 1870.

A kestrel can take about 30 minutes to clean, whereas larger animals like the chimpanzee can take a few hours, collections manager Heather Southorn said.