A global player from the South. The Buenos Aires zoological garden and the transnational network of zoos in the early twentieth century

In June 2016, the Buenos Aires zoo made headlines around the world. The dire situation of the animals led to its closure. It is supposed to become an "eco-park" now. A century earlier, during the directorship of Clemente Onelli (1904-1924), the zoo, had a different reputation: for Argentines it was a beacon of civic and national pride. Yet the Buenos Aires zoo was also well known internationally and considered innovative and exemplary in many respects. Its ¿outreach program¿, including free guides, reached a large audience. Its journal (published from 1893) was read by naturalists around the world. The Revista included many reports about the zoological research carried out in its enclosures, in particular with respect to improving the nutrition of the animals. Despite its seemingly peripheral location the Buenos Aires zoo was firmly integrated in the interurban network of zoological gardens in the early twentieth century. It exported much sought after animals from the Latin American fauna, e.g. anteaters, to European zoos and was at the same time eager to fill its own cages with giraffes, elephants and apes. Zoo architecture was another field where best practices "travelled" between the Old and the New World. This paper will thus use a transnational perspective in order to tease out the numerous material and epistemological exchanges taking place between the Buenos Aires zoo and other animal keeping institutions in Europe and beyond.Peer reviewe