Living, Biting Monitors, a Morose Howler and Other Infamous Animals: Animal Biographies in Ethology and Zoo Biology

Abstract

Childhood encounters with animals often played a significant role in the autobiography of ethologists and zoo biologists who, by going on to produce disciplinary knowledge of animal behaviour and human-animal encounter, in turn made possible distinctive forms of animal biography. New ways of describing and narrating the lives of animals emerged within this genre, recognising not only their species history and cultural history but also their own coherent individual history that familiarity allows one to meaningfully describe. Drawing on the work of Lestel, Baratay, Hediger, Crandall and others, this chapter describes some of the forms animal biography has taken in ethology and zoo biology. The clashes of captive animals with biopower have left behind numerous enigmatic traces.