Roosevelt's Birds

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PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT’S BIRDS [LB9115, LB10038, LB10144]
Three small bird skins.

These birds were shot by, or for, Teddy Roosevelt (1858-1919), who maintains a place in history as a former U.S. President and for being the person who inspired the teddy bear. In his early years, Theodore Roosevelt was a hunter and collector, but he later became a conservationist. As Governor of New York he closed down factories that used bird feathers in the fashion trade. During his presidential term (1901-9) he achieved more for wildlife protection than any previous president, creating numerous national parks and reserves. He gave his bird collection to the Smithsonian Institution, and nine of them were exchanged with Auckland Museum between 1886 and 1892.