Roaming Animals
Migration in the Animal Kingdom
Migration (derived from the Latin verb migrare = to emigrate, to wander, to travel) is a permanent spatial relocation of the center of life. This is not an invention of modern times. Since the beginning of time, living organisms have set out on migrations in order to find suitable breeding grounds, food, or better living conditions. The year 1492, i.e., the discovery of America, was globally established as the “cut-off date” for the introduction of “new settlers.” These “new settlers” are the focus of the new exhibition “Roaming Animals – Migration in the Animal Kingdom,” which will be on display in the Japanese Palais at the
Senckenberg Natural History Collections in Dresden (SNSD) until November 28, 2021. More than sixty original specimens, models, and casts from the collections of the SNSD show the diversity of immigrants in our homeland. The significance for our local species is illuminated, and a discourse is opened. How many “aliens” can our native species tolerate? Are they an asset, or a destroyer of our biodiversity?