When your mount arrives, it’s not just a delivery. It’s the continuation of a story. Each piece represents time in the field, a moment that mattered, and something worth preserving properly. And the truth is, how you maintain your taxidermy at home starts with one simple thing - the environment you place it in.
At Highveld Taxidermists, every mount is built to last. But the space it lives in will determine how well it holds its form, colour, and presence over time.
Taxidermy is made from natural materials. That means it responds to its surroundings.
You won’t see changes overnight, but over time, small shifts in temperature, humidity, or light exposure can start to affect the look and structure of your mount.
Getting the environment right from the start makes all the difference.
It’s not about having the “perfect” temperature. It’s about avoiding constant change.
When temperatures fluctuate, hides expand and contract. Over time, that can lead to cracking.
A good rule of thumb:
Consistency is what protects the structure.
Humidity plays a bigger role than most people realise.
Balanced humidity keeps everything stable, from the hide to the finer details.
Natural light looks great in a room, but direct sunlight is not your mount’s friend.
Over time, UV exposure will:
If possible, keep mounts out of direct sunlight or use UV filters on windows.
Places like fireplaces, air vents, or air conditioners might seem harmless, but they slowly dry out natural materials.
That’s when mounts start to lose that lifelike feel.
Try to keep your mounts in areas with stable, moderate conditions.
If you get the environment right, you’re already doing most of the work.
It’s the foundation for preserving your taxidermy properly and keeping it looking the way it should for years to come.
Since 1981, every Highveld mount has been crafted with longevity in mind.
From the moment your trophy enters our studio to where it lives in your home, the goal is the same: to preserve your story exactly as it happened.
Getting the environment right is step one.
Next, we’ll walk through how to clean and care for your taxidermy mounts to maintain their detail and finish over time.
For many of our American clients, the safari doesn’t actually end when the sun sets on that final evening in the Bushveld. The true "final chapter" happens months later, in the quiet of your study or trophy room, when you finally open a custom wooden crate and see your completed trophies for the first time.
We understand that for the international hunter, the "how do i get it home?" phase is often the only part of the journey that carries any stress. Navigating CITES permits, veterinary clearances, and thousands of miles of transit requires more than just a logistics plan - it requires a partner you can trust.
At Highveld Taxidermists, we’ve spent over 40 years ensuring the journey home is as refined as the hunt itself. Since the Ochsenbein family opened our doors in 1981, we’ve treated shipping not as a utility, but as a final act of respect for the animal and your memories.
The process of moving a masterpiece across the globe is intricate, but when handled with professional precision, it should be entirely invisible to you.
International shipping is a landscape of ever-changing regulations. We take full responsibility for the "heavy lifting" regarding paperwork - managing export permits, CITES documentation, and US Fish & Wildlife import requirements. We ensure every detail is flawless so your shipment moves through ports of entry without delay. With 45 years of experience, we have built a network of professional partners in the US that assist our clients by clearing the trophies and organizing the last mile delivery.
In our studio, we don’t believe in "one size fits all" Every crate is custom-built by our team using heat-treated timber.
"We treat crating as an engineering project. We use specialized internal bracing to ensure that even the most delicate ears of a Kudu or the intricate scenery of a custom base remain suspended and untouched, no matter how much the ship, plane or truck rocks."
What sets a premium studio apart is not just the quality of the glass eyes or the accuracy of the musculature - it is the peace of mind offered to the client.
Total Visibility into Your Legacy: We know that these pieces represent a significant investment of time and emotion. To honor that, we’ve removed the "black hole" of waiting. Every Highveld hunter receives a unique, personalized link to a chronologically ordered project photo page to follow their trophy’s progress. This portal provides a full line of sight from raw preparation through to the final master-crafting and crating. You are never left wondering; you are part of the story every step of the way.
The Heritage of the Ochsenbein Family: When you work with Highveld, you are partnering with a family-run legacy. Our 45-year reputation is built on the fact that we treat your trophies with the same reverence we would our own.
Your trophies are the physical vessel for your greatest stories. We are here to ensure those stories arrive home safely, exactly as you remember them. If you’re planning your next African pursuit, we’d be honored to discuss how we can preserve your legacy.
