A global history of zoos in the long nineteenth century

The zoological garden is a child of the nineteenth century. Starting off as a Western European phenomenon it soon spread around the globe. By the 1890s there were zoos on every continent. From the very beginning these institutions were very much aware of one another, not only of their existence but of their specific challenges (in particular how to keep exotic animals alive). This paper will try to apply new approaches from global history to the history of the zoo. It will attempt to trace ¿the rise of global uniformities¿ (Bayly) with respect to how zoos were built, organized and used by its diverse publics, ranging from naturalists, acclimatizers, animal traders, educators and the general public and in particular how the animals were presented. At the same time, taking into account the specific local contexts of each zoo, this paper will ask for the idiosyncrasies of individual zoos. How can these two perspectives be combined? In what way is it possible to talk about the zoos of Antwerp, Buenos Aires, Cairo, Calcutta, Philadelphia and Perth in a coherent and fruitful manner? The solution proposed by this paper is to conceive of the nineteenth century zoo as a large network in which knowledge but also animals and people circulated. The hybridity of the institution itself (torn between a scientific research agenda and the need to provide a spectacle), asymmetries in power and resources as well as the omnipresent colonial context will have to be taken into account.Peer reviewe