What is "acclimatisation society"

n. (context historical English) any of the societies created in order to enrich the fauna of a region with animals and plants from around the world.

Acclimatisation societies were societies created in order to enrich the fauna of a region with animals and plants. These societies were born during a period of colonialism when Europeans began to settle in unfamiliar environments. The movement sought to establish familiar animals (mainly from Europe) into new areas while also bringing exotic and useful animals into the European centres.

A definition of acclimatisation was attempted by Alfred Russel Wallace in his entry in the 11th edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica (1911). Here Wallace tried to differentiate the idea from other terms like domestication and naturalization. He noted that a domesticated animal could live in environments controlled by humans. Naturalization, he suggested included the process of acclimatization which involved "gradual adjustment". The idea, at least in France, was associated with Lamarckism and Wallace noted that there were some like Charles Darwin who denied the possibility of forcing individual animals to adjust. Wallace however pointed out that there was the possibility that there were variations among individuals and that some could have the ability to adapt to new environments.