Tag: Animal Geography
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Out of Place and Out of Space – Translocation and the Urban Monkey
Aditi Dhillon This year, in June 2021, the Karnataka High Court passed a judgement according to which monkeys entering residential spaces were to be translocated and moved to their natural habitat by the state. This judgement, however, was not one of its kind. It was, in fact, along the lines of a judgement passed by…
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The Digital Ecologies of Animal Display
Kartik Chugh The lockdown induced by the coronavirus pandemic witnessed a rather fascinating development in which wildlife cams gained unprecedented popularity. Millions of viewers tuned into the live streams of nest-cams, bird-cams, and crittercams to watch the compelling drama of animal life unfold. Zoos and aquariums also broadcasted live shows to keep the viewers gripped.…
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The Geographies of Animal Display
By citing various modes of animal exhibitions, this article demonstrates some of the ways in which animals have been represented in the circuits of natural history. Kartik Chugh Reliance Industries recently announced that they are establishing what they claim to be the world’s largest zoo in Jamnagar, Gujarat. On display would be more than a…
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More-than-human Cities: On Urban Design and Nonhuman Agency
Kartik Chugh The modern cities are usually imagined as purified spaces of human existence, a humanist citadel, constructed by humans and for humans alone. The rapid urbanization fueled by capitalist development project proceeds without any regard for nonhumans. In its classical sense, urbanization transforms empty, unproductive wastelands into improved lands through a process called development…
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Quarantine Ecologies: The Spectacular Return of Animals
Kartik Chugh As the world is reeling from the effects of the pandemic, a barrage of writing has recently emerged linking COVID-19 to the ‘healing’ of Earth. Lockdown measures of confinement have birthed novel ecologies of abandonment which have altered the rhythms and mobilities of both humans and non-humans. The absence of humans has led…
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Animal Geographies II: A Geographical Perspective
Kartik Chugh In my previous article, I provided a brief introduction to the distinct, lively, and innovative field of Animal Geography. I portrayed how new considerations about how we imagine animals in modern society emerge when we shift the focus towards animals and think of them as subjective participants and active agents who play an…
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The Case Against Animal Rights
Kartik Chugh The coronavirus might have been invisible but that there would be a pandemic was not unforeseen. The simple narrative that the virus emerged in animals and jumped the species barrier to reach humans, helps sidestep the realm of human responsibility. At the center of this outbreak is not just the animal, but the…
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Animal Geographies I: A brief overview
Kartik Chugh “Coronavirus: Industrial animal farming has caused most new infectious diseases and risks more pandemics, experts warn.” – The Independent (May 2020) “From Hamsters to Baboons: The Animals Helping Scientists Understand the Coronavirus.” – Scientific American (May 2020) “The wild animals at risk in lockdown” BBC (May 2020) These three recent headlines show some…