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Menagerie of taxidermy at Summers Place auctions near Billingshurst in West Sussex.

A menagerie of stuffed animals, including a giraffe, a crocodile and even a polar bear, are expected to make thousands of pounds at auction.

The weird and wonderful world of taxidermy is filling an auction house in Sussex as staff try to fit in more than 100 stuffed animals and another 100 skeletons and fossils.

A growling 7ft 8in polar bear standing on its hind legs will probably be the main attraction of the stuffed wildlife, expected to fetch £30,000.

The bear was only killed in the last decade or so when it had to be put down after repeatedly raiding settlements in the Arctic and endangering lives. The body was then given to a taxidermist.

Summers Place Auctions have a host of exotic animals, everything from lions and tigers, to zebras, camels and an ostrich, but Errol Fuller, curator of the Evolution sale, says none of the animals were killed for the purposes of taxidermy.

A 100-year-old rhino head with a simulated horn, which is almost 3ft high, should make £10,000 and a 9ft 10in long crocodile is estimated at £4,000.

Curators (L-R) Lindsay Hoadley, Kate Diment and Errol Fuller carry a stuffed crocodile into position. Est: £2,500 - 4,000.