Moving Animals
A History of Science, Media and Policy in the Twentieth Century
In the twentieth century, processes of globalization and increasing pressure on uncultivated areas have transformed humans’ relations with undomesticated non-human animals. Because human and animal territorialities intersected in novel ways, life scientists and policymakers were increasingly spurred to study and manage animal mobility across the globe. Simultaneously, media representations of animals circulated at an unparalleled scale.
The ‘Moving Animals’ project – sponsored by an NWO Vici grant – will study changing human-nature relations by focusing on human involvement with ‘wild’ animals that move (or are being moved) over great distances. More in particular, it will analyze how the long-distance movement of these animals has been studied, represented, managed and policed throughout twentieth century. Four main categories of animal mobility take center stage: (1) biological invasions, (2) reintroductions of locally extinct species, (3) seasonal migrations and (4) the trading of zoo animals. By probing how these various forms of animal movement have been made knowable, visible and controllable, the project will cast a light on the changing place and space of animals in today’s globalizing world.
Latest News
Presentation at Animal History Group Conference 2023
Vincent Bijman presented his research on the history of invasive Sea Lamprey in the Great Lakes at the "Working Across Disciplines on Animal History" conference held by the Animal History Group in partnership with the FIELD Project at the University of Lincoln, UK....
Moving Animals at European Society for Environmental History (ESEH) 2023
This summer the Moving Animals team participated in the European Society for Environmental History conference (held in Bern, Switzerland) in various ways, including presenting on two panels and participating in the Summer School. [Media clipping from Vincent's...
Raf De Bont on Dutch Radio program Wetenschap Vandaag (Science Today)
This August, Raf De Bont was interviewed on the Dutch radio program Wetenschap Vandaag (Science Today) discussing the Moving Animals project. Listen to "Hoe wild is een wild dier nog?" (How Wild is a Wild Animal) here.
Papers at the Commodities of Empire International Workshop
This month Tom Quick and Vanessa Bateman shared papers at the University of York for the workshop "Fur, Fin and Feather: Commodifying Wild Animals" as part of the British Academy Research Project Commodities of Empire . Tom shared his paper, "Flying Monkeys and the...
New Publication on Animal Photography and Migration
Vanessa Bateman has a chapter in the recently published book Bellwether Histories: Animals, Humans, and US Environments in Crisis edited by Susan Nance and Jennifer Marks with University of Washington Press. "Animal Photography and the 'Elk Problem' in Modern Wyoming"...
Research in Minnesota, Colorado, and Wyoming
In May, Vanessa Bateman traveled to the US for a research trip to several archives in the US, including the University of Minnesota, the Denver Museum of Nature & Science, and the American Heritage Centre at the University of...
Lecture for Environmental History Week
In April, Monica Vasile delivered a lecture for Environmental History Week, organised by the American Society for Environmental History. A history of the Przewalski’s horses in the 20th century: from the zoo back to Mongolia Abstract: The talk will explore the history...
Globalizing Wildlife Book Workshop
Moving Animals hosted a two-day workshop this month for our book project, Globalizing Wildlife. The workshop brought scholars from around the world (in person and online) to Maastricht University to share their contributions to the volume and discuss what ('wild')...
Research in New Zealand
Monica Vasile is currently in New Zealand conducting research on the South Island Takahē, a flightless bird and the largest member of the rail family. Indigenous to New Zealand, Takahē were once thought to be extinct until they were dramatically 'rediscovered' in...
Simone Schleper wins Alice Hamilton Prize!
At the recent 2023 American Society for Environmental History (ASEH) Conference, Simone Schleper was awarded the Alice Hamilton Prize for best article outside the journal Environmental History. Part of her work for the Moving Animals project, Schleper's article...