Wildlife in Asia Cultural Perspectives

Drawing on anthropological and historical data, this book examines human-wildlife relations in China, Tibet, Japan, Bhutan, Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia, India, Thailand and Vietnam. The volume initially focuses on the various ways in which wild animals are exploited as a resource, for food, medicine and crop-picking labour, before examining animals termed as pests or predators that are deemed to be harmful and dangerous.

Bringing together anthropologists and historians, this book analyses the range, variability and historical mutability of human sensibilities towards animals in Asia and will be of interest to Asianists and anthropologists alike.

Preface List of Contributors Introduction Part 1: Wildlife as Resource1. Attitudes towards Wildlife and the Hunt in Pre-Buddhist China2. The Chase and the Dharma: The Legal Protection of Wild Animals in Premodern Tibet 3. Representations of Hunting in Japan 4. Japanese Perceptions of Whales and Dolphins 5. Cultural Underpinnings of the Wildlife Trade in Southeast Asia 6. Coconut-Picking Macaques in Southern Thailand: Economic, Cultural and Ecological Aspects Part 2: Wildlife Pests and Predators 7. Wildlife Depredations in Jigme Dorji National Park, Bhutan8. Farming the Forest Edge: Perceptions of Wildlife among the Kerinci of Sumatra 9. Pigs across Ethnic Boundaries: Examples from Indonesia and the Philippines 10. 'Primitive' Tiger Hunters in Indonesia and Malaysia, 1800-1950 11. The Raj and the Natural World: The War against 'Dangerous Beasts' in Colonial India 12. Wolf Reintroduction in Japan?

John Knight is Lecturer at the School of Anthropological Studies, Queen's University Belfast and a former Research Fellow at the International Institute for Asian Studies, The Netherlands.