Animal Studies and Exploration History: Amundsen’s Sledge Dogs Who Helped Discover the South Pole

Abstract

From the fictious Captain Ahab’s incessant chase of Moby Dick to fur trappers of the North American Rockies and even the wild safaris of Africa, animals have inspired and accelerated human exploration and discovery of the unknown. Like most stories, these narratives are usually far more engaged with human actors, events, and histories. For instance, Elizabeth Leane argues, “While animals frequently feature as companions in narratives of human travel, they often remain in the background, mentioned every so often but rarely well delineated.” Sandra Swart suggests, “Perhaps it is the very centrality of animals to human lives that has