Airplanes, cameras, computers, wildebeests: The technological mediation of spaces for humans and wildlife in the Serengeti since 1950

Author:

Schleper Simone1ORCID

Affiliation:

1. Maastricht University, the Netherlands

Abstract

Drawing on the concept of technological mediation, this article examines the spatial politics of observation technologies and associated practices that have been used to monitor the movement of migratory wildebeests in the Serengeti from the 1950s until the 2000s. It shows that key technologies, and the types of research collaborations they sustained, mediated notably different normative ideas about human–wildlife interaction and the sharing of space in and around protected areas. During the 1950s and 1960s, observations of animal migration were conducted by airplane. Direct observation was characterized by the study of movement of migratory ungulates, such as the wildebeest, and humans across space in real time. Aerial observations depended on a close cooperation between scientists and park authorities, and on the knowledge and observational skills of game wardens. The experience of the movement of animals and people in real time allowed, to some degree, for experimentation with forms of human land-use. During the 1970s, many small-scale and short-term projects shifted the research focus toward data recording by camera. Aerial photographs created supposedly complete spatial overviews of inhabitation, which supported interpretations of spatial conflicts between humans occupying the park’s surrounding areas and animal populations inside the park. From the 1980s onward, computer technology allowed for long-term calculations of past and future trends in population densities of individual species. The understanding of the wildebeest as a keystone species and the Serengeti as a baseline ecosystem turned communities of local pastoralists and agriculturalists into a future threat. As observation technologies are here to stay, it remains important to pay attention to technologies’ potential roles in creating additional distances between researchers and research subjects. Historical insights, such as the ones presented in this article, can help reflect on how various forms of remote sensing may mediate normative views on human–wildlife interactions and consequentially affect local livelihoods.

Funder

Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek

Publisher

SAGE Publications

Cited by 4 articles. 订阅此论文施引文献 订阅此论文施引文献,注册后可以免费订阅5篇论文的施引文献,订阅后可以查看论文全部施引文献

1. Animal geographies III: Relational and political;Progress in Human Geography;2024-07-24

2. The Airport and the Zoo;Historical Studies in the Natural Sciences;2024-04-01

3. Wilderness, Deep Evolution, Circle of Life. Sacralizing the Serengeti;Veröffentlichungen des Instituts für Europäische Geschichte Mainz Beihefte;2023-10-05

4. Globalising Animals;Journal for the History of Environment and Society;2022-01

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