The practice of moving live undomesticated animals to different regions has been in place for centuries. Since the middle of the 19th century, however, the trade in wildlife intensified and live animals were transported in growing numbers. While they often were presented as ›wild‹, some animals such as elephants and camels had been tamed or even domesticated. This begs the question what exactly they needed to embody in order to become of interest for ›wild‹ animal dealers, and for the institutions that would keep them.

The conference sets out to examine these discursive as well as practical effects. It starts from the understanding that the global trade in ›wild‹ animals was not only imbedded in colonial structures and discourses, but equally involved in re-shaping and producing new ones. For instance, new professions and new forms of knowledge emerged in the wake of the trade, e.g., in the form of transportation methods and zoo medicine. Professional animal dealers were also involved in the emerging environmental and nature protection movements of the time, including (monetised) attempts to save animals from extinction and re-introduction of so-called endangered species to the wild.

Tackling these entanglements, the conference will look at key actors involved in the trade and in the movement of the animals, with a focus on the first half of the 20th century. It will also scrutinise the connections of the trade to other related branches, such as the trade in animal material and ethnographic objects, and the spaces that it produced and operated in.

The conference is funded by the German Lost Art Foundation and organised by the Modern History Department of the University of Göttingen in cooperation with the Network for Provenance Research of Lower Saxony. It will take place on Monday, 28 November 2022, at the Georg-August-University in Göttingen.

We welcome participation in-person, but for those who are unable to be in Göttingen, you can also attend the conference virtually.

Looking forward to your participation, please register until 21 November 2022 by emailing Sophia Annweiler (sophia.annweiler@stud.uni-goettingen.de), stating your name, institution, preferred email address, and whether you would like to attend in-person or online.