Wildlife Corridors: Animal Mobilities and Environmental Infrastructure in the Straits Settlements, c.1870s–1920s

This article explores the interplay between imperial infrastructure, environmental dynamics and animal mobilities in the Straits Settlements between the 1870s and 1920s. Focusing on the colonial wildlife trade, it argues that the infrastructures of extraction and mobility in this region were not simply imposed upon nature but were shaped through ongoing interactions with nonhuman actors. Drawing on the concept of environmental infrastructure, the article traces how animals – whether as labourers, commodities, obstacles or resistive forces – shaped the logistical systems of empire across three zones: the forested interior of the Malay Peninsula, the urban infrastructures of the Straits Settlements, and the maritime ports of Singapore. These spaces were fragile and contingent, constantly tested by the unpredictability of wild cargo. The Straits Settlements thus emerged not only as a hub of commodity trade, but as a colonial wildlife corridor connecting Southeast Asia’s ecological interiors to global markets. By centring animals within infrastructure history, the article furthermore offers a new perspective on the environmental history of empire and the limits of colonial control.