The first man to hunt animals with a camera and not a gun

[Catherine]

At a time when wildlife was used for hunting, Cherry Kearton went out with a camera and took pictures. That was in the 1900s. No one thought of photographing animals. They wanted to kill and stuff them and make trophies of them. Kearton was way ahead of his time. In fact he began the era of wildlife photography and nature documentaries. We have some amazing people taking pictures and making movies now. Back then there was no one. He did not have the fancy cameras and lenses. He took some real chances to get the shots he wanted. His efforts changed the way people relate to wildlife. 

https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign...exhibition

The man was a pioneer of a new idea about animals. I doubt he was well received at first. He may have hunted with Roosevelt, but there is no sign that he had any influence on him. Roosevelt continued his hunting. Kearton's influence has grown slowly over time. He has influenced people like David Attenborough.
From one man and a camera the whole idea of photographing animals  and not killing them has grown.  
His work will be complete when game hunting ends and it is totally replaced by photography. It has been over 100 years, but clearly we are moving in that direction.
I hope Cherry Kearton gets the credit he deserves for  what he has done.

[LPC]

Thank you, Catherine. I had not heard of this man before. He was certainly a pioneer in animal photography.

What also struck me, though, was this sentence from the article you cited, about Theodore Roosevelt:

"Over several months on safari the trigger-happy president and his son Kermit killed 17 lions, 11 elephants, 20 rhino, nine giraffes, 19 zebra, more than 400 hippos, hyena and other large animals, as well as many thousands of birds and smaller animals." What a bloodbath!

[Catherine]

Quote:"Over several months on safari the trigger-happy president and his son Kermit killed 17 lions, 11 elephants, 20 rhino, nine giraffes, 19 zebra, more than 400 hippos, hyena and other large animals, as well as many thousands of birds and smaller animals." What a bloodbath!

I find this shocking. It is not just that it is a brutal killing spree. Did it never occur to him that he might be depleting the species. The numbers are staggering. 
When you think of the Rhinos alone, the number of offspring that were not born because of this blood bath could be the difference between extinction or survival of the species.
So I hope Roosevelt gets the credit he deserves for the destruction he caused and I hope Kearton gets the credit for the lives he saved.
Two men, two very different paths.

[LPC]

Wikipedia mentions the expedition, but does not mention the animals killed, only stating, "To finance the expedition, Roosevelt received support from the American Museum of Natural History in return for promising to bring back many new animal specimens." The killing was truly shameful in the amount of animals killed.

[Catherine]

There are animals that went extinct or almost went extinct because of museums wanting specimens. The American Museum of Natural History financed Roosevelt in exchange for dead animals that they could display.

I really question the ethics of this and other museums. They had no regard for conservation. They only cared about what they could lay their hands on. 
These museums also took human remains from other cultures and displayed them. They are sadly lacking in respect for anything, but their own needs and collections.

Maybe they should have to do some form of compensation. They could fund some serious conservation efforts for the animals that they helped kill.