Introduction

The introduction provides a background of both the Acclimatisation Society of Victoria (ASV) and acclimatization in the Victorian Climate. The author focuses on the Royal Park depot and discusses the development of acclimatization and activities in the environment that benefits animal survival. In addition, the introduction briefly outlines the factors of environmental transformation in Victoria and the different ways to investigate the imperial network.

Acclimatization Gets Organized

This chapter covers the organization and experiment of acclimatization through the example of Edward Wilson. Wilson’s interests in land reform, agriculture, and farming led him to consider the development of the colony and acclimatization. His experience on acclimatization was recorded, written and introduced to the Philosophical Institute of Victoria (PIV) where he explored other scientific interests. Wilson’s acclimatization experiment involved translocating animals such as Murry Cod, alpacas, and wombats. His experiment highlights the establishment of networks and the push for the study of acclimatization.

The Decline of Terrestrial Acclimatization

This chapter covers ASV’s conflicts due to financial problems and the failure of acclimatization species and acclimatized animals that became agricultural pests, such as rabbits. The rabbit population, which became known as the rabbit plague, caused ruined crops and environmental disasters. Farmers demanded the right to destroy rabbits, protection of their property rights, and revision of the game laws. Recognizing the failure, the institution questioned the utility of acclimatized terrestrial vertebrates for pest control and emphasized protecting agriculturally useful native animals to control pests. New generation of scientists in the Field Naturalists Club of Victoria (FNCV) and the Zoological and Acclimatisation Society of Victoria (ZASV) were concerned with national nature, extinction, and animal welfare. Recommended strategies like seasonal protection of animals were issued to prevent the possibility of imminent extinction.

Colonial Creations

This chapter discusses ASV’s involvement in the transfer of animals between colonies, its knowledge about the transferred animals, and the subsequent transformation of the environment. The British Empire acclimatization survey recorded questions about organisms suitable for each colony and which organism each colony would like to see acclimatized within its boundaries. The animals listed within ASV’s guidebook, Answers Furnished, reveal mammals, birds, fish, and other species native to other countries. The success and failure in acquiring African animals and Indian animals reveal ASV’s climatic, cultural, and scientific imagination and helped Australian acclimatizers understand how the distribution of animals across the world has changed the environment of colonies. The program shows the establishment and cooperation of networking among the imperial government and colonial officials.

Hunting Victoria

This chapter discusses Australians’ attitudes towards the history of game hunting, giving insight to the complicated relationships among agricultural development, environmental degradation, and imperial recreational activities. Game acts established by the ASV show the issue of traditional game hunting, protection of animals, and decrease in food. The history of game legislation shows that hunting in Victoria was shaped by British sporting traditions, gold rush assertions of common property in game, concerns about declining native game numbers, and protecting the colonial food supply.

Aquaculture

This chapter covers colonial aquaculture in 1860s Victoria with emphasis on the Atlantic Salmon and Brown Trout. The ASV program observed important factors regarding the development of salmonid aquaculture in North America such as the relationship between recreational and commercial fishing, discussion about the placement of certain species, and ways in which damaged fisheries can be restored. Overall, this chapter explores the re-examination of aquaculture due to the failure of salmon acclimatization.

Local Acclimatization Theories

This chapter explores acclimatization in Victoria and discusses written works, theories, and programs that aimed to determine environmental change in Victoria, explain new scientific cultures of colonies in Australia, and explore further ideas about environmental change and biogeography. ASV scientific leaders Ferdinand von Mueller, Professor Frederick McCoy, George Bennett, and Henry Ridgewood Madden were naturalists who studied the Victoria’s acclimatization. Their acclimatization theory and argument brought awareness and contributed to the understanding of environmental change.

Epilogue

In the epilogue, the author explains his thoughts about the creation of this book, beginning with what a casual visitor to Melbourne Zoo in Royal Park would see in 1861. To understand acclimatization, he argues, the contributions from acclimatization networks, theories, and a new generation of scientists and officials are crucial to help improve and discover new ideas.

The Transformation of Fish Acclimatization

In this chapter, the early twentieth century study of acclimatization in Victoria further explores fish acclimatization and the decentralization of regional fish acclimatization societies; it also recognizes aquaculture as a solution for declining fish stocks. Organizations such as Geelong and Western District Fish Acclimatising Society (GWDFAS), Ballarat Fish Acclimatisation Society (BFAS), and scientist Sir Samuel Wilson, supported fish acclimatization with interest in breeding, protection of fish, and restoring damaged fisheries. A new generation of fisheries scientists like William Saville-Kent documented their experiences and discovered how to professionally manage fisheries. With innovations like these, the emerging Australian nation was inextricably bound to introduced species and environmental change to feed and understand itself, while also constrained by and aware of past mistakes.

Regulating and Understanding Victorian Fisheries

This chapter investigates local fisheries and fish species in Victoria. The ASV’s fisheries regulation policies and fisheries management program are outlined to create an understanding of the commercial potential of Australian fisheries and the protection of fishes. The analysis of fishery management illustrates the actions of local fishermen and the damages done to them during and after the gold rush. The investigation of commercial fishery provides insight on the Murray Darling river system, the labouring of the Yorta Yorta people, and Chinese merchants and fishermen. Local fishermen argued that their Chinese competitors used nets with a very fine mesh, destroying immature fish that they thought unfit for market. This practice would bring Chinese fishermen into conflict with the ASV and the colonial government’s fish protection policies as they developed in the mid-1860s. Also discussed are the controversies over taxonomic relationships among fish species and how declining fish stocks initiated protective regulation. Overall, the chapter illustrates how the ASV attempted to restore and improve Victorian fisheries.