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Stories

  • Article

A little wildness

To salve her longing for a dog, Rowan Hisayo Buchanan chose a puppy. She found that, despite centuries of domestication, her dog still retains aspects of her wild ancestry.

  • Article

Drawing the human animal

We might try to deny our animal instincts, but this series of extraordinary 17th-century drawings suggests they are only too apparent.

  • Article

The intimate and invasive art of ethical taxidermy

Does displaying dead animals bring us closer to nature, or drive us further apart?

  • Article

The men who meddled with nature

The ‘acclimatisation societies’ of the 19th century sought to ‘improve’ on the natural world by releasing non-native species into the wild. The effects were disastrous.

All stories (14)

Images

  • An emaciated man in conversation with another man in a meadow; wild animals listen with attention. Gouache painting.
  • Cape of Good Hope (South Africa): a selection of its indigenous animals, including the cape sheep, a wild goat, a wild ass, a wolf tiger, a zebra and a civet cat. Etching.
  • A magpie and an ostrich are in discussion with an assembly of wild animals looking on from above. Etching by J. E. Ridinger.
  • An old ibex is dancing in an unrestrained manner with a crowd of wild animals watching the spectacle in disbelief. Etching by J. E. Ridinger.
  • The 1904 World's Fair, St. Louis, Missouri: the US Government building: natural history exhibit featuring stuffed wild animals: elks and a polar bear. Photograph, 1904.
  • A man making fun of a physician because he keeps two wild animals as pets, in a tent in India(?). Lithograph by R.J. Hamerton after himself.
  • A man and a woman lie on the ground; the woman is attended by another man; people observe from a pavilion; and wild animals look on. Gouache painting.
  • A monkey is surrounded by wild animals in a luxurious environment and presented with crown and scepter by a fox when he shins down his throne to grab some grapes. Etching by J. E. Ridinger.
  • A pained wolf with its paw in a caltrop is presented to the lion and its attentive looking entourage of wild animals in a makeshift camp in the forest with a fox scribbling in a book. Etching by J. E. Ridinger.
  • Furniture in human and animal forms. Coloured etching by S. de Wilde, 1807, after "Sylvester Scrutiny".
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