An American philanthropist yesterday signed an agreement to supply US$10 million worth of stuffed animals to the Beijing Museum of Natural History.

Kenneth E Behring, the 77-year-old founder of the Wheelchair Foundation, will donate hundreds of specimens, including a stuffed African elephant and a giraffe, to the museum.

Hailing from Africa, America, Europe and Asia, the mostly large animals are to get their own exhibition hall and displays mimicking environments as diverse as African plains and Alaskan glaciers. The exhibition will be open to visitors during the summer holiday.

"I have always loved nature and how animals and nature work together," said Behring. "I hope children in Beijing, without going abroad, can see how the animals change because of the difference of environment and what they eat."

Explaining his enthusiasm for donating to charity, Behring said: "(Although I amassed a fortune) I was losing something in the process. So by helping people I can get a different joy in my heart."

Behring's Wheelchair Foundation was set up in 2000 and has so far delivered 226,000 wheelchairs to more than 126 countries, including 50,000 to China.

(China Daily July 1, 2005)