ABSTRACT
Drawing on postcards in the collection of the National Museum of Natural History, this chapter seeks to highlight the bonds between keepers and zoo animals in early-twentieth-century Paris. Multiple postcards feature one or more animals being fed by a keeper. Moreover, although fencing or grilles are frequently visible, there is no barrier in the foreground, thus providing zoogoers with a surrogate proximity to the animals without the actual danger that led some ménagers to their death. Postcards are analyzed both for their visual content and used as a starting point for further investigation. By supplementing them with press reports, or by tracing their re-use in contemporary children’s books (such as a picture book Kako le terrible), the chapter gives further insights into the biographies and relations of zoo animals and keepers, as well as into the fictional re-appropriations of their history for educational purposes.
