Dr. Johann Büttikofer (9 August 1850 – 24 June 1927) was a Swiss

zoologist Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the animal kingdom, including the structure, embryology, evolution, classification, habits, and d ...

. Büttikofer was born in Ranflüh (part of

Rüderswil Rüderswil is a municipality in the administrative district of Emmental in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. History Rüderswil is first mentioned in 1139 as ''Rüderswile''. The oldest trace of settlements in the area are three high medieval ...

Canton of Bern The canton of Bern or Berne (german: Kanton Bern; rm, Chantun Berna; french: canton de Berne; it, Canton Berna) is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation. Its capital city, Bern, is also the ''de facto'' capital of Switzerland. ...

) in the

Emmental The Emmental ( en, Emme Valley) is a valley in west-central Switzerland, forming part of the canton of Bern. It is a hilly landscape comprising the basins of the rivers Emme (river), Emme and Ilfis (river), Ilfis. The region is mostly devoted to ...

. He is best known for his two zoological expeditions to the

Republic of Liberia Liberia (), officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to its north, Ivory Coast to its east, and the Atlantic Ocean ...

(1879 to 1882 and 1886 to 1887) and resulting publications; from 1897 to 1924 he was the Director of the Blijdorp Zoological Garden in Rotterdam. After his retirement he settled in Bern, Switzerland. For his extensive contributions to the knowledge of Liberian fauna he is regarded as the 'Father of Liberian Natural History'.

Scientific career

Johann Büttikofer learned his love of nature from his father Jakob, who was a school teacher in his native Ranflüh. He attended village school until the age of 16 and then studied French for one year, after which he attended a teacher training college in Hofwil until the age of 20. He taught school in Graswil, Switzerland for six years, hunted, began to learn taxidermy, read travel accounts, and longed to visit the tropics. He left teaching to become a preparator at the

Natural History Museum of Bern The Natural History Museum of Bern (german: Naturhistorisches Museum Bern) is a museum in Bern, Switzerland. In its teaching and research it cooperates closely with the University of Bern.Theophil Studer, who had just returned from travelling around the world. In 1878, Prof. Ludwig Rütimeyer of Basel recommended him to become an assistant to Dr.

Hermann Schlegel Hermann Schlegel (10 June 1804 – 17 January 1884) was a German ornithologist, herpetologist and ichthyologist. Early life and education Schlegel was born at Altenburg, the son of a brassfounder. His father collected butterflies, which stimulate ...

, the director of the Royal Museum of Natural History (Rijksmuseum van Natuurlijke Historie, now

Naturalis Biodiversity Center Naturalis Biodiversity Center ( nl, Nederlands Centrum voor Biodiversiteit Naturalis) is a national museum of natural history and a research center on biodiversity in Leiden, Netherlands. It was named the European Museum of the Year 2021. ...

) in Leiden, the Netherlands. He became an understudy of Schlegel, who sought to expand the museum's role in understanding animal life in Western Africa. Büttikofer joined Dr. Schlegel on a study trip to the major museums of Germany and Austria. Recognizing Büttikofer's capabilities and potential, Schlegel proposed sending him on a six-year expedition to Africa to collect zoological specimens from several largely unexplored forest regions, specifically Liberia, the Ivory Coast, the Gold Coast, Cameroon and Gabon. Liberia was selected as the first destination, principally because the expedition had been offered free transportation on the ships of the Rotterdam trading firm Hendrik Muller & Co. which had several trading factories along the Liberian coast. Two zoological expeditions to Liberia were carried out between November 1879 - April 1882 and November 1886 - June 1887; the great success of the Liberia expeditions, the death of Dr. Schlegel, and Buttikofer's own health considerations caused the other initially planned destinations to be dropped. In 1890 he published a two-volume work, "Reisebilder aus Liberia" in German. This constituted the first monograph on the Republic of Liberia, and contains some of the earliest photographs of nature in Liberia. An annotated English translation of this publication was produced in November, 2012 by Brill (Leiden), titled "Travel Sketches from Liberia: Johann Büttikofer's 19th Century Rainforest Explorations in West Africa", co-edited by Henk Dop and Phillip T. Robinson.

First expedition

On the first expedition, Büttikofer was accompanied by a Dutchman, Mr. Carolus Franciscus Sala of Leiden, who had previously served in the

Royal Netherlands East Indies Army The Royal Netherlands East Indies Army ( nl, Koninklijk Nederlands Indisch Leger; KNIL, ) was the military force maintained by the Kingdom of the Netherlands in its colony of the Dutch East Indies, in areas that are now part of Indonesia. Th ...

and had also collected zoological specimens in present-day Angola. Venturing into areas in the lands of the

Gola people The Gola or Gula are a West African ethnic group who share a common cultural heritage, language and history and who live primarily in western/northwestern Liberia and Eastern Sierra Leone. The Gola language is an isolate within the Niger–Congo ...

along the

Saint Paul River The Saint Paul River is a river of western Africa. Its headwaters are in southeastern Guinea. Its upper portion in Guinea is known as the Diani River or Niandi River, and forms part of the boundary between Guinea and Liberia. It is known local ...

that had never before been visited by Europeans, Büttikofer and Sala were highly successful in their collecting activities. Among their finds was the first ever complete specimen of the zebra duiker (''Cephalophus zebra''). Suffering from a range of adversities, rapacious local chieftains,

malaria Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects humans and other animals. Malaria causes symptoms that typically include fever, tiredness, vomiting, and headaches. In severe cases, it can cause jaundice, seizures, coma, or death. S ...

and other tropical medical afflictions, Büttikofer and Sala next set up a collecting station at

Robertsport Robertsport is a town in western Liberia, about 10 miles (16 km) from the Sierra Leone border. It is named after Joseph Jenkins Roberts, the first president of Liberia. The town lies on Cape Mount peninsula, a spit of land separating the bracki ...

. Here, Sala's condition worsened, and he died on 10 June 1881 and was buried in a mission cemetery. Büttikofer continued collecting, now in the company of the Liberian hunter Jackson Demery, and also visited the various coastal trading posts in eastern Liberia, until severe ill health forced him to return to Europe. During a lengthy period of convalescence, Büttikofer wrote an extensive account of his findings, in Dutch, which was published in 1883 in the journal of the Netherlands Royal Geographical Society, whose translated title is: "A Report on Liberia: Results of a Journey of Exploration Undertaken by J. Büttikofer and C. F. Sala in the Years 1879-1882." When Prof. Schlegel died in 1884, Büttikofer was appointed Curator of Birds.

Second expedition

Whereas Büttikofer's first expedition was funded by Dr. Schlegel, his second was largely financed by himself, on an unpaid leave of absence, with costs to be recuperated by selling specimens to the Leiden museum and others. As a co-worker, he recruited a Swiss boyhood acquaintance and fellow avid hunter, Mr. Franz Xaver Stampfli (1847-1903) of Solothurn, Switzerland, who had come to visit him while intending to emigrate to the United States. Stampfli travelled to Liberia in 1884 while Büttikofer continued his recovery. During his stay in the general area of the Junk River, Stampfli discovered an antelope species entirely new to science, the

Jentink's duiker Jentink's duiker (''Cephalophus jentinki''), also known as ''gidi-gidi'' in Krio and ''kaikulowulei'' in Mende, is a forest-dwelling duiker found in the southern parts of Liberia, southwestern Côte d'Ivoire, and scattered enclaves in Sierra Le ...

(''Cephalophus jentinki''), but had to return for convalescence in the spring of 1886. In November 1886 Büttikofer and Stampfli jointly set out for Liberia. While Büttikofer conducted a journey to Robertsport to collect Jackson Demery to join the expedition, Stampfli set up a collecting station at

Schieffelin Schieffelin may refer to: *Samuel Schieffelin (1811–1900), an American author of religious tracts. *Bradhurst Schieffelin (1824–1909), an American political activist during the Civil War, who later became a member of the People's Party *Eugene ...

. After extensive forays in the surrounding area, a second station was set up in Hill Town, which proved to be most successful. Here, the first ever complete specimens of the

pygmy hippopotamus The pygmy hippopotamus or pygmy hippo (''Choeropsis liberiensis'') is a small hippopotamid which is native to the forests and swamps of West Africa, primarily in Liberia, with small populations in Sierra Leone, Guinea, and Ivory Coast. It has ...

(''Choeropsis liberiensis'') were collected. In May 1887, at the expiry of his leave of absence and again suffering from ill-health, Büttikofer returned to Europe while Stampfli continued collecting for another year. Encouraged by the earlier success of the "Results of a Journey of Exploration", Büttikofer combined the results of the two expeditions into the two-volume German "Reisebilder aus Liberia" published by

E. J. Brill Brill Academic Publishers (known as E. J. Brill, Koninklijke Brill, Brill ()) is a Dutch international academic publisher founded in 1683 in Leiden, Netherlands. With offices in Leiden, Boston, Paderborn and Singapore, Brill today publishes 275 ...

(Leiden) in 1890. To this day, this work stands out as the first comprehensive monograph ever written about the Republic of Liberia, including natural history, geology, agricultural production, ethnography, customs and dress, history, finance, commerce and trade etc.; while also providing highly vivid travel accounts. Apart from the already mentioned finds, the collected material resulted in the identification of more entirely new species and subspecies of a variety of taxa, for example, Stampfli's spot-nosed monkey (''

Cercopithecus nictitans The greater spot-nosed monkey or putty-nosed monkey (''Cercopithecus nictitans'') is one of the smallest Old World monkeys. It is a guenon of the '' C. mitis'' group, native to West Africa and living to some extent in rain forests, but more often ...

stampflii''), the

lesser spot-nosed monkey The lesser spot-nosed monkey (''Cercopithecus petaurista''), also known as the lesser spot-nosed guenon, lesser white-nosed guenon, or lesser white-nosed monkey, is a species of primate in the family Cercopithecidae. It is found in Ivory Coast, G ...

(''

buettikoferi''),

Büttikofer's shrew Buettikofer's shrew (''Crocidura buettikoferi'') is a species of mammal in the family Soricidae. It is found in southern Nigeria and scantly present in Ivory Coast, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone Sierra Leone,)]. officially th ...

(''Crocidura buettikoferi''),

Büttikofer's epauletted fruit bat Buettikofer's epauletted fruit bat (''Epomops buettikoferi'') is a species of megabat in the family Pteropodidae. It is found in Ivory Coast, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Nigeria, Senegal, and Sierra Leone. Its natural habitats are su ...

(''Epomops buettikoferi''), and Büttikofer's bichir (''

Polypterus palmas ''Polypterus palmas'', also called the shortfin or marbled bichir, is a fish in the family Polypteridae found in freshwater environments throughout West Africa. Distribution ''P. palmas'' has a wide range; it can be found in freshwater environm ...

buettikoferi''). Büttikofer's animal specimens are in a number of European museum collections, but principally at the natural history museum in Leiden (Naturalis). Ethnographic artifacts from his work in Liberia, as well as collection of photographs taken during the second expedition, are at the Rijksmuseum Volkenkunde in Leiden (Museum Volkenkunde), the

World Museum World Museum is a large museum in Liverpool, England which has extensive collections covering archaeology, ethnology and the natural and physical sciences. Special attractions include the Natural History Centre and a planetarium. Entry to the ...

(Wereldmuseum) in

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...

, and at the

Historical Museum of Bern The Bern Historical Museum (german: Bernisches Historisches Museum, french: Musée d’Histoire de Berne) is the second largest historical museum in Switzerland. It was designed by the Neuchâtel architect André Lambert and built in 1894. Since ...

in Switzerland. The "Reisebilder aus Liberia", as well as the ongoing series of publications based upon his collected specimens, soon established Büttikofer as the unrivalled authority on Liberian fauna. Having maintained close contact with scientific circles in Switzerland, the University of Bern bestowed an

honorary doctorate degree An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or '' ad hon ...

(dr. phil. h. c.) upon him in 1895. Around that same year, the Liberian Government awarded him the Liberian Humane Order of African Redemption, which recognizes individuals for assisting the Liberian nation and for playing prominent roles in the 'uplifting of its people'. Thereafter, when the subject of Liberia came before many scientific groups, the general reaction was reported to be, in essence, 'No need to go to Liberia, for Dr. Büttikofer has thoroughly covered that subject.' Büttikofer's very success may have impeded further zoological work in Liberia for several decades.

Third expedition

In 1893-1894 Büttikofer was the official zoologist of the Nieuwenhuis Expedition to central Borneo, organized by

Anton Willem Nieuwenhuis __NOTOC__ Anton Willem Nieuwenhuis (22 May 1864 – 21 September 1953) was a Dutch explorer and physician who travelled extensively in central Borneo in the 1890s, recording valuable ethnographic information about the Dayak people and making b ...

, a well-known Dutch explorer. This work resulted in valuable contributions to the knowledge of the wildlife of that region, during which he travelled up the Mandai and Sibau rivers and also ascended Mt. Kenepai and Mt. Liang Koebeng. Several birds, reptiles, and invertebrates from there still bear his name today, including, for example, Büttikofer's babbler (''Pellorneum buettikoferi)'', Büttikofer's glass lizard (''

Dopasia ''Dopasia'' is a genus of lizards in the family Anguidae. The genus contains seven species, which are native to Asia. They are most closely related to the North American ''Ophisaurus'', and are sometimes considered part of that genus. Species Th ...

buettikoferi)'', Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . ("Büttikofer", p. 44). and a skink ('' Sphenomorphus buettikoferi)''. At a later date, Büttikofer remarked that working in the East Indies was more like a "holiday journey" in contrast to the difficulties that he had faced in Liberia. Between 1897 and 1924, Büttikofer was the Director of the Zoological Garden in Rotterdam. During his long directorship he was associated with some of the main forerunners of nature conservation in The Netherlands.

Nature conservation

Büttikofer was chairman of the Dutch Society for the Protection of Birds (1909-1924). A small 6 ha ornithological reserve established in his honour in 1926 on the island of

Texel Texel (; Texels dialect: ) is a municipality and an island with a population of 13,643 in North Holland, Netherlands. It is the largest and most populated island of the West Frisian Islands in the Wadden Sea. The island is situated north of Den ...

in the North Holland province of the Netherlands still bears the name Büttikofer's Mieland. This reserve is now part of a complex of larger and smaller terrains referred to as "The low lands of Texel" and managed by the Netherlands Society for the Preservation of Natural Monuments

Vereniging Natuurmonumenten Vereniging tot Behoud van Natuurmonumenten in Nederland ( en, Society for Preservation of Nature Monuments in the Netherlands), also known as Vereniging Natuurmonumenten, is a Dutch nature conservation organization founded in 1905 by Jacobus Pi ...

. In 1924 Büttikofer retired and relocated to Bern, Switzerland, residing only a short distance from the natural history museum where he began his highly productive career. He remained active in scientific meetings until he died of pneumonia on June 24, 1927, following a trip to the

Dutch East Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies ( nl, Nederlands(ch)-Indië; ), was a Dutch colony consisting of what is now Indonesia. It was formed from the nationalised trading posts of the Dutch East India Company, which ...

. He was survived by his wife Petronella. Dr. Büttikofer was held in high regard by his European and African colleagues. Some 25 years after his death, Dr. G. A. Brouwer noted, in his book on Dutch ornithologists that "he was not merely a friend of animals, but he also had a great sympathy for his fellow man, a characteristic that had already been very useful in Liberia, and was pleasant, convivial and a man of authority, who played a leading role in several societies."

References

Sources

* Anon. 1927. Zum Andenken an Dr. Johann Büttikofer (E. Bühlmann & Company) 32 pp. * Anon. 1993. Hans Stampfli: Der Afrikajäger Franz Xaver Stampfli (1847–1903), Ein Solothurner entdeckt neue Tierarten und bereichert naturwissenschaftliche Sammlungen, Mitteilungen der Naturforschenden Gesellschaft des Kantons Solothurn 36 (1993): 123–35. * Brouwer, G.A, 1954. Historische gegevens over onze vroege ornithologen en over de avifauna van Nederland (Brill, Leiden, 1954); pp 84–87. * Büttikofer, J. 1883. "Mededeelingen over Liberia. Resultaten van eene Onderzoekingsreis, door J. Büttikofer en C. F. Sala in de Jaren 1879–1882, Uitgegeven van wege het Aardrijkskundig Genootscap, Bijblad 12. * Büttikofer, J. 189
Reisebilder aus Liberia
Resultate geographischer, naturwissenschaftlicher und ethnographischer Untersuchungen während der Jahre 1879-1882 und 1886-1887 (E.J.Brill) Leiden 2 vols. * Büttikofer J. 1917. Die Kurzschwanzaffen von Celebes Zoologische Mededelingen Vol. 3 p. 1-86 * Dop, Henk and Phillip T. Robinson (eds), 2013, "Travel Sketches from Liberia- Johann Büttikofer's 19th Century Rainforest Explorations in West Africa." Brill (Leiden). * Robinson, Phillip T. Liberia's Wildlife: The Time for Decision," ZOONOOZ (San Diego)54, no. 10 (October 1981): 7–20. * Voous, K.H., 1994, In de ban van vogels, Scheffers, Utrecht.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Buttikofer, Johann 1850 births 1927 deaths People from Emmental District 19th-century Swiss zoologists 20th-century Swiss zoologists