Acclimatisation society

One motivation for the activities of the acclimatisation societies was that introducing new species of plants and animals (mainly from Europe) would enrich the flora and fauna of target regions.

The idea, at least in France, was associated with Lamarckism, and Wallace noted that some, such as Charles Darwin, denied the possibility of forcing individual animals to adjust.

[2] The first acclimatisation society was La Societé Zoologique d'Acclimatation, founded in Paris by Isidore Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, on 10 May 1854.

It was essentially an offshoot of the National Museum of Natural History in Paris, and the other staff included Jean Louis Armand de Quatrefages, Antoine César Becquerel and his son Alexandre.

The French society established a branch in Algeria, as well as the Jardin d' Acclimatation in Paris in 1861, to showcase not just new animals and plants but also people from other lands.

François Laporte, naturalist and consul in Melbourne,[7] and Ferdinand von Mueller of the Acclimatisation Society of Victoria, were involved in the transfer of many plant species out of Australia.

In many instances they existed both as societies for the study of natural history as well as to improve the success rate of introduced species.

[11] The appeal of acclimatisation societies in colonies, particularly Australia and New Zealand,[12] was the belief that the local fauna was in some way deficient or impoverished.

[13] An Australian settler, J. Martin, complained in 1830 that the "trees retained their leaves and shed their bark instead, the swans were black, the eagles white, the bees were stingless, some mammals had pockets, others laid eggs, it was warmest on the hills..." It was there that the desire to make the land feel more like England was strongest.

Speaking to the Society, George Bennett pointed out how it was important to have such an organisation, citing the example of the Earl of Knowsley, who had been conducting successful experiments in private, the results of which had been lost with his death.

Despite warnings from Alfred Newton and others, the predators were introduced, and Herbert Guthrie-Smith declared it as an "attempt to correct a blunder by a crime.