Reconstructing the disappearance of amphibians in Brussels
(2026) Brussels Studies — Vol. 219, n° 1 (2026)
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- What do we know about animal extinction in Brussels? The inventories commissioned by Bruxelles Environnement identify species which are present, abundant or rare, as well as those which have become extinct. But what actually happened to these vanished species? What individual histories lie behind these labels? This article seeks to reconstruct the extinctions, recorded during the 19th and 20th centuries, of five amphibian species which disappeared from the city. It interweaves field-based naturalist observations with a diverse body of knowledge in order to revisit the places where toads, frogs and newts once lived but have since vanished, while coming as close as possible to these concrete extinctions and to the experiences of those who were concerned about them. These five stories are tied to the contemporary issue of urban wetlands. They offer new perspectives which allow us to reflect on our capacity to coexist with other living beings in urban environments. They also show that the amphibians identified and cared for in these habitats today are not simply those which are present, but those which remain. They persist within a landscape marked by extensive losses which have accumulated over time and whose underlying processes have yet to be halted. More broadly, this study of local extinctions highlights the need within political ecology to recover forgotten histories, despite the limited documentary evidence available.
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d’Hoop, A. (2026). Reconstructing the disappearance of amphibians in Brussels. Brussels Studies, 219(1). https://doi.org/10.4000/16ova (Original work published 2026)