Footprints in the Mud of Agadem

Petrified footprints of now extinct rhinos and those of humans in the mud of the former lake Agadem may symbolise the beginning of an epoch dominated by humans. How could such a “local” Anthropocene be defined? In eastern Niger, two aspects seem particularly important for answering this question. The first is the disappearance of the addax in the context of the megafauna extinction. The second is the question how the “natural” environment may be conceived by the local Teda where current Western discussions highlight the “hybridity” of space.