Brooklyn Taxidermy has taxidermy studios in Sussex, NJ and in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, NY, and is owned and operated by Amber Maykut and staff. Amber trained at Anderson's Whitetail Taxidermy School near Rochester, New York, under Bill Anderson in 2012. In NYC, John Youngaitis of Cypress Hills Taxidermy in Queens, NY, was a mentor. At the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, Amber interned in the special exhibitions/fabrication department and studied under Senior Preparator Tom Doncourt in 2014-2015, and is currently a bird taxidermist there preparing study skins for research and educational purposes. In New Jersey, she has spent over a decade working and learning from award-winning taxidermist Mark Van Leuven, owner of Buckshot Taxidermy in Sussex, NJ, and served for two years on the board of directors for the GSTA, Garden State Taxidermists’ Association, helping to lead seminars and organize their annual state taxidermy competitions and conventions. In England, Amber studied under Simon Moore, a longtime conservator at the London Natural History Museum. She provided taxidermy classes and more at the now defunct Morbid Anatomy Museum in Gowanus, Brooklyn, and has lectured on the history of taxidermy at Teddy Roosevelt’s Birthplace National Historic Site, among other places.

Brooklyn Taxidermy’s work has been featured in The Guardian, The New York Times, The LA Times, VICE Magazine, National Geographic,  New York Magazine, Brooklyn Magazine, TimeOut NY, Business Insider and dozens of other print and online publications, as can be seen on our Press page.

We offer professional repairs, cleanings, rentals, commissions, custom work, as well as teach monthly taxidermy classes. We do taxidermy fabrication and wholesale for the Evolution Store in Manhattan, Paxton Gate in San Francisco, and other similar shops. We create freeze-dry custom work in coordination with Buckshot Taxidermy’s Pets Forever by Mark. The more intricate anthropomorphic taxidermy clothing and props, such as the Beetlejuice and Lydia outfits, are handmade in coordination with award-winning puppeteer and professional puppet builder Sarah Frechette, founder of Puppetkabob in Portland, OR.

As part of the National Taxidermists Association, we follow and support ethical guidelines with respect to animal welfare. Depending on the circumstances, skins and organic materials are variously sourced from: feeder animals, butcher/sustenance remains, discarded livestock, destroyed nuisance animals, utilized roadkill, deceased livestock or pets, donated animals that died of natural causes, and a plethora or other sources. Please note taxidermy uses only the skin to create mounts, the insides of the animals often still go to their originally intended sources: to be eaten by humans (butcher remains) or to be fed to larger animals (feeder animals for pet snakes, lizards, zoo animals, etc.). For more info or inquiries, please visit our FAQ page, or contact us via the Contact Page.