La nueva "Geografía animal"oportunidades y desafíos para los geógrafos españoles

Abstract

The study of animals has traditionally been framed in different branches of geographic research. In the Spanish geography, wildlife research has been tackled from zoogeography, while livestock and game animal studies have been addressed from rural, tourism and landscape geography. However, a new "animal geography" has emerged in the Anglo‐ Saxon geography in the last twenty years; as a branch of cultural geography, this new field focuses on the spatial dimension of the complex relationships between humans and non‐humans animals. Based on an extensive literature review, this work identifies and analyses the various topics that characterize this emerging field. Likewise, challenges and opportunities for Spanish geography are explored. The theoretical and methodological framework of animal geography could allow Spanish geographers to take an active part in recent socio‐political debates regarding to animals (such as the animal rights movement), which undoubtedly have important territorial and landscape implications.