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Full-Text Articles in Arts and Humanities

Wild-But-Not-Too-Wild Animals: Challenging Goldilocks Standards In Rewilding, Erica Von Essen, Michael P. Allen Sep 2015

Wild-But-Not-Too-Wild Animals: Challenging Goldilocks Standards In Rewilding, Erica Von Essen, Michael P. Allen

Between the Species

Rewilding is positioned as ‘post’-conservation through its emphasis on unleashing the autonomy of natural processes. In this paper, we argue that the autonomy of nature rhetoric in rewilding is challenged by human interventions. Instead of joining critique toward the ‘managed wilderness’ approach of rewilding, however, we examine the injustices this entails for keystone species. Reintroduction case studies demonstrate how arbitrary standards for wildness are imposed on these animals as they do their assigned duty to rehabilitate ecosystems. These ‘Goldilocks’ standards are predicated on aesthetic values that sanction interventions inconsistent with the premise of animal sovereignty. These include culling, relocations and …


A Day With Crows - Rarity, Nativity And The Violent-Care Of Conservation, Thom Van Dooren Jan 2015

A Day With Crows - Rarity, Nativity And The Violent-Care Of Conservation, Thom Van Dooren

Animal Studies Journal

This article explores the intermingled violence and care of endangered species conservation. The structure of the paper takes the form of a narrative account of a day spent at the Keauhou Bird Conservation Center in Hawai‘i, observing staff taking care of a captive population of critically endangered Hawaiian crows (Corvus hawaiiensis). Over the course of the day some animals were cared for (especially endangered birds), while others were trapped and killed as part of the conservation management of the larger property (i.e. feral pigs). This article works with these examples and the broader context of the Hawaiian crow project to …