P. T. Bisong, FSU: The Batanga Expedition in German 'Kamerun': Role of the first 'Kolonialzoologe...

The Batanga expedition of 1887 to the then German protected territory of ‘Kamerun’ saw the participation of three Germans, including Dr. Bernhard Weissenborn, the pioneer zoologist to the territory who hailed from the Zoology institute of the University of Jena. The expedition itself created a route to the heart of the territory ‘Jaunde’ and the zoological report from Dr. Bernhard Weissenborn exposed the Germans to its rich biodiversity. The years that followed saw an influx of biological collections from Cameroon to the German Natural History Museum in Berlin. Some collections were directed to the Jena Phyletic Museum, where Weissenborn had personal ties. I'm investigating the role played by Bernhard Weissenborn in the Batanga expedition and analyse natural history collections from Cameroon in the Berlin Museum of Natural History and in the Jena Phyletic Museum collected during the German period in the territory. Presenter: Paul Taku Bisong