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Nonhuman Primate Trade in the Age of Discoveries: European Importation and Its Consequences

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Environmental History in the Making

Part of the book series: Environmental History ((ENVHIS,volume 7))

Abstract

The history of interactions between humans and non-human primates is simultaneously complex and fascinating. Since ancient times, human beings have interacted with non-human primates, sometimes shaping the latter populations’ abundance and geographical distribution. In the Age of Discovery (fifteenth and sixteenth centuries) Europeans came in contact with sub-Saharan African and New World primates for the first time and began the first large-scale trade of these primates. They were introduced to Europe in great number being a significant part of the revenue from the trade in natural products with Africa and the Americas. The current work presents the results of a review of literary and iconographic sources of this period which contain data on African and New World primates. These sources suggest that primates were a constant presence and very sought after animals in all the phases of European expansion. They represented an authentic status symbol for nobles and wealthy citizens who used them to underscored their influence, prestige and social position. This work will also include some considerations on the consequence of this trade on primate populations.

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Acknowledgements

Most of this work is a part of my Ph.D. thesis (2011) for which it received partial funding from the Regional Council of Tuscany (Italy). The part concerning African primates is a project which is still in progress and is being funded by the Portuguese FCT (Foundation for Sciences and Technology) (Grant n°: SFRH/BPD/73631/2010) and supervised by my colleague and friend Catarina Casanova, to whom I am very grateful. Many thanks are due to Giulio Barsanti, my Ph.D. thesis supervisor, and to the many colleagues and friends who have offered their suggestions, help, and collaboration, among them: Marco Masseti, Dante Teixiera, Mauro di Vito, Maike Vogt-Luerssen, José de Sousa e Silva Júnior, Bruna Bezerra, Marcos Fialho. I am also grateful to Pedro Correia for the revision of the text, and to Andi Nufer for the English revision.

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  1. ISCSP–CAPP, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal

    C. Veracini

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  1. C. Veracini
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  1. IHC, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal

    Cristina Joanaz de Melo

  2. Escola de Ciências, Universidade do Minho, Braga, Portugal

    Estelita Vaz

  3. NIMA, Escola de Economia e Gestão, Universidade do Minho, Braga, Portugal

    Lígia M. Costa Pinto

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Veracini, C. (2017). Nonhuman Primate Trade in the Age of Discoveries: European Importation and Its Consequences. In: Joanaz de Melo, C., Vaz, E., Costa Pinto, L. (eds) Environmental History in the Making. Environmental History, vol 7. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-41139-2_9

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