The recent volume of Osiris, entitled ‘Animal Mobilities’, edited by Tamar Novick, Lisa Onaga and Daniel Rosenberg, has an article by Raf De Bont that follows two northern white rhinoceroses to discuss the entanglement of mid-twentieth century zoo conservation, colonialism and celebrity culture.

Unloading Paul and Chloe from the train in Khartoum, January 1950. © ZOO Antwerpen / Beeldbank.

Abstract: This article analyzes both the symbolic and material impact of the move of two northern white rhinos, Paul and Chloe, who were flown from Anglo-Egyptian Sudan to Antwerp Zoo in 1950. As the first zoo-held northern white rhinos anywhere in the world, they quickly turned into celebrities. The transport by plane—dubbed a “flying ark”—spurred media attention and was used to create an image of the zoo as a modern institution of science and conservation. The article shows, however, that the physical movement of endangered animals not only was instrumental in creating new symbolic meanings, it also involved the loss of preexisting connotations and connections.