'Wildlife in silence' found at Ingen's bungalow

Taxidermist had in possession, various animal pelts;90 inches long ivory listed rare

When Nazarbad police stepped into ‘Bisil Manti’, the disputed bungalow of taxidermist Van Ingen, they were subjected to silent stares by a motley of wildlife species.

As mentioned in the 14-page detailed report submitted to police commissioner K L Sudheer, both the bungalow and out-house had a majority of antiques, with animal pelts topping the list.

An old tonga and a wall clock; a tiger head and an 118 inch long and 35 and a half inch wide pelt; two leopard heads and pelts (95x27) and (102x27); and a bear head and pelt (30x20) were among the list.

There are also 48 paintings of ladies, five metal cups, two antiques each, of a horse rider, an elephant and a rhinoceros.

Another rare find is a 90 inch long Ivory. Three other ivories found were in different sizes -- 58 inch, 50 and a half inches and 30 inch. Four elephant legs, one each of tiger and a lion pelt has also been listed.

A room in the outhouse was akin to a treasure trove with most of the animal pelts found dumped in the place. They include -- Bison skulls (three in numbers), sambar head and mount (three), sambar skull (three), african buffalo skull (one), chital head (seven), hyaena (one), chital skull (two), himalayan bear skull (one), jackal head (three). Besides, four live bullets were also found.

Wildlife Conservation Act

According to the police, if the Wildlife Conservation Act 1972 not came into existence, all the animal pelts, mostly received by Ingen for the stuffing job, would have been cleared.
Fearing the consequences of law, it is suspected that the collectors did not show up.

A prominent MLA from the northern part of the State was one among the regular customers of Ingen. This apart, rosewood and teakwood articles, not in fine condition, form part of the collection.

Dispute

When the dispute over the huge assets left behind by Ingen arose, after his death on March 12, the police had to intervene to save the properties. This especially with Michael Floyd Eswar, a one time realtor who later turned out be the ‘successor’ of Ingen’s assets. Ingen, a day before his death on March 11 had lodged a complaint with the police that Eswar had illegally acquired his properties by forcing him to sign on a fabricated will.
Eswar is still at large, evading police from arresting him.