Who walked by here?
Those were our very own Mundenhof animals! Well, almost. Of course, our meerkats, Cameroon sheep, and ostriches didn’t run up and down the wall “in person”. But the footprints in the picnic shelter are genuine impressions taken directly from our own resident animals. How did we manage it?
Looking for tracks
It all began with our search for tracks made by our own animals. Finding clean prints in the mud of the Cameroon sheep enclosure was easy enough. With the meerkats, we had to offer a little encouragement by baiting a tray of damp soil with treats.
Mission: Ostrich track
The ostriches gave us the hardest time – they simply refused to step where we wanted them to. In the end, we made a large patch of sand wet, smoothed it flat and coaxed the birds across. At last, we had our ostrich tracks!
Just like detectives
The next stage was like you would see in a classic crime thriller. We cast the impressions in plaster and let them set. Then came the detailed craftsmanship: cleaning, sanding, replicating, and sealing the plaster casts until we had pinpoint-accurate animal track stamps.
Leaving an impression on the picnic shelter
The footprints were set onto the wall with meticulous care. Using the plaster stamps, the tracks were pressed directly into the fresh plaster, designed to complement all the interactive flaps, feathers, and eggs waiting to be discovered across the wall.
