Jean-Marie Eugène Derscheid (19 May 1901, Sterrebeek – 13 March 1944) was a Belgian zoologist who focused much of his professional interest on Africa. He was a world expert on breeding exotic waterfowl in captivity,Barclay-Smith, Phyllis. 1945. “Obituary: Dr. J.M. Derscheid.” Avicultural Magazine 10:157-158.Delacour, Jean. 1966. The living air: the memoirs of an ornithologist. London: Country Life. authored scientific articles on a wide range of wildlife species, became the initial director of Africa's first national parkAkeley, Mary L. Jobe. 1929. Carl Akeley's Africa; the account of the Akeley-Eastman-Pomeroy African Hall Expedition of the American Museum of Natural History. New York: Dodd, Mead & Co., p. 119 and gathered an important historical manuscript collection on Rwandan historyLemarchand, René. 1970. Rwanda and Burundi. London: Pall Mall Press.
Professor Derscheid was European secretary for the International Committee for Bird Protection and was awarded the medal of the Société d’Acclimatation de France.Barclay-Smith 1945:157-158. He was a Fellow of the Zoological Society of London and of the U.S. National Audubon Society, a corresponding fellow of the American Ornithologists' Union, an honorable life member of the Wildlife Preservation Society of Australiaibid.:158 and member of the Avicultural Society (U.K.).Barclay-Smith, Phyllis. 1946. Obituary (Dr. J.M. Derscheid). Nature 157(3977):70.Palmer, T.S. 1933. "Semi-Centennial Meeting of the American Ornithologists' Union (in Scientific Events)." Science n.s. 78(2033):549.
As a young man, during World War I, he joined the Belgian Army, only to be apprehended in 1918 while attempting to join the fighting near Ypres and imprisoned by the German Army at Hasselt Prison until the Armistice.Brien, Paul. 1971. "Jean-Marie Derscheid." Biographie nationale 37 (supplément tôme 9, 1er fasc.):211-235. He was awarded the Croix civique de 1ère classe avec liséré d'or for his service.ibid. During World War II, he served in the Belgian Resistance as a leader with the Comet line,Comète Kinship Belgium. n.d. Liste des personnes ayant aidé des aviateurs passés par Comète Available online. which was organized to help Allied soldiers and airmen escape German-occupied Europe and return to Great Britain.BBC News. October 24, 2000 "Airmen remember Comet Line to freedom." He was (again) captured, this time by Nazi Germany's Geheime Feldpolizei (GFP or Secret Field Police) in October 1941, sent to a series of prisons and concentration camps and ultimately executed as a spy on 13 March 1944.Christoffel, R. 1944. Letter signed by “Le Delegue-Adjoint du Comite International de la Croix-Rouge” dated July 12. Available from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) Archives. Ref. B G 44/CP-226.34. See: ICRC. 2006. Inventaire B G 044, Otages et détenus politiques 1939-1952, p. 37. Geneva, Switzerland: ICRC.
From aviculture to zoology From a young age on his family estate in Sterrebeek, Derscheid developed an interest in ornithology and aviculture. He built a research station for bird behavior called Armendy Farm that was active in the 1930s. In cooperation with colleagues in France, England, Germany, the United States and Australia he succeeded in assembling one of the best captive breeding bird collections in Europe, specializing in Anatidae and Loriinae (ducks, swans, geese; and the group of small parrots consisting of lories and lorikeets).Yealland, John. 1940. “The Collection at Sterrebeek.” Avicultural Magazine (5th series) V:251-254.Barclay-Smith 1945:157. Derscheid also kept the omnivorous alpine parrots from New Zealand known as keas.Yelland, John. 1940. “Some Parrot-Like Birds at Sterrebeek.” Avicultural Magazine (5th series) V:288-293).Derscheid, J.M. 1947. "Strange parrots I. The Kea (Nestor notahilis Gould)." Avicultural Magazine 53:44-50. There, he researched dietary requirements and incubation, sending specimens to zoos throughout Europe, America, and Australia. He was particularly interested in aspergillosis, a bronchial disease caused by mold that decimated flocks of wild sea ducks as he tried to acclimatize them to the freshwater park environment, but which Derscheid succeeded in curing.Yealland, John. 1949. “Mycosis in Birds.” Avicultural Magazine 55:20-22. Derscheid's techniques were widely adopted and applied, most notably at the nature reserve in Zwin (Belgium), known for its collections of salt-resistant plants and an aviary specializing in wading birds. An obituary of Derscheid states: “His collection at Sterrebeek was known throughout Europe, America and Australasia, and his success with the Anatidae, particularly with the sea-duck, placed him in the forefront of waterfowl experts.”Barclay-Smith 1945:157. Prior to the outbreak of World War II, Derscheid transferred some of his collection of exotic birds to the late John J. Yealland, who carried them in a cardboard box on one of the last boats to leave Belgium before the German invasion.Harvey, Mary. 1983. “John James Yealland 1904-1983” (Obituary). Avicultural Magazine 89(2):111. Later the Curator of Birds at the London Zoo,Sawyer, R.C.J. 2002. "Some famous aviculturists I have known." Avicultural Magazine 108(3):100-109. Yealland also published on Derscheid's bird collections from notes prepared during the latter's imprisonment.Brien 1971.Yealland, John. 1941. “Some European Waders.” Avicultural Magazine (5th series) VI:160-165).Yealland, John. 1942. “Notes on the Bearded Reedling (Panurus biarmicus).” Avicultural Magazine (5th series) VII:47-49).Yealland, John. 1942. “Hand-rearing Freshwater Ducklings.” Avicultural Magazine (5th series) VII:98-101.Yealland, John. 1943. “The Spiny-tailed Ducks.” Avicultural Magazine (5th series) VIII:73-75.Yealland, John. 1944. “Full-winged Tree Ducks.” Avicultural Magazine (5th series) IX:90-91.
From 1919 to 1922 Derscheid was enrolled in the Science Faculty of the Université libre de Bruxelles, studying under Professor Auguste Lameere and earning a doctorate in Zoology based on his dissertation on the morphology of bird skulls (Morphologie du squelette céphalique des oiseaux).Brien 1971:211-235. He was awarded the gold medal of the Concours Interuniversitaire (1922–1924) for his thesis on bird classification as well as another on the olfactory organs of fish.Barclay-Smith 1946:70.Derscheid, J. M. 1924. "Structure de l'organe olfactif chez les poissons. Première partie. Osteichthyes, Teleostei, Malacopterygii." Annales de la Societe Royale Zoologique de Belgique 54:79-162. His first professional job was as temporary section head at the Royal Museum for Central Africa in Tervuren, Belgium (1924–1926). Most of Derscheid's scientific articles were published during this period, including those on the longfin herring (Ilisha africana),Derscheid, J. M. 1924. "Note sur certains Clupeidae de la côte W. de L’Afrique.” Rev. Zool. Africaine Bruxelles 12 fasc. 2:278-282. hornbill,Derscheid, J. M. 1924. “Note sur la disposition des tendons du propatagium chez le Calao, Bucorvus abyssinicus.” Gm. Bul. Muséum Paris. l pp. 41-43. okapi,Derscheid, J. M. et H. Neuville. 1924. “Recherches anatomiques sur l’Okapi, Okapia johnstoni Scl. I. Le caecum et la glande ileocaecale.” Rev. Zool. Afr. Tervurren 12:498-507.Derscheid, J. M. et H. Neuville. 1925. “Recherches anatomiques sur l’Okapi, Okapia johnstoni Scl. III. La Rate.” Rev. Zool. Africaine Tervueren 13:97-101. and African wild dog.Derscheid, J. M. 1925. “Les Chiens sauvages d’Afrique (Lycaon pictus Temm.).” Cercle Zool. Congolais in Rev. Zool. Africaine Tervueren 13:-.Derscheid, J. M. 1925. “Deux carnassiers intéressant de l’Afrique orientale.” Cercle Zool. Cong. in Rev. Zool. Afr. Tervueren 13:75-86. He continued to publish on a wide range of topics after this period, including articles on the tropicbird,Derscheid, J. M. 1926. “Notes sur Les circonvolutions intestinales de Phaëton.” Ann. Soc. Roy. Zool. Bruxelles 55:119-121. dugong,Derscheid, J. M. 1926. “Les Lamantins du Congo (Trichechus senegalensis Desm.) avec notes sur le répartition géographique et l’extermination des Siréniens.” Bulletin du Cercle zoologique Congolais (Rev. Zool. Africaine) 3:23-31. exotic ducksDerscheid, J. M. 1938. "Note on the systematic position of Amazonetta and Calonetta." and "Description of a new species of Teal from South America." (In Correspondence) Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club 58: 59-62, 62-63.Derscheid, J. M. 1939. "An unknown species--the Tahitian Goose." Ibis 81:756-760. 14th ser. v. III, n.4 (October). and the mountain gorilla.Derscheid, J. M. 1927. "Notes sur les gorilles des volcans du Kivu." Annales de la Societe Royale Zoologique de Belgique 58:149-159. He also published on his experiences with the Akeley expedition,Derscheid, J. M. 1927. La protection scientifique de la nature. Bruxelles: Henri Kumps. 74 p. (Extract of J.-M. Derscheid’s diary from his mission to Kivu, Congo in 1926-1927 with notes on the census and distribution of mountain gorillas he conducted).Derscheid, J. M. 1928. “Entre le lac Édouard et le Kivu—Mission Akeley-Derscheid (1926-1927).” Bulletin de la Société royal de Géographie d’Anvers, t. XLVIII, p. 92-99. including on ethnic groups in the region of the expedition and the new park.Derscheid, J. M. 1935. "The Bakama of Bunyoro" (correspondence to the editor). Uganda Journal 2(3):252-253.Oliver, Roland. 1955. "The Traditional Histories of Buganda, Bunyoro, and Nkole." The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland 85(1/2):111-117. Available online.
Conservation efforts in Europe and internationally Early 20th-century European efforts to lobby internationally for environmental conservation laws were delayed by World War I, but Belgian biologist Jean Massart reintroduced Paul Sarasin's proposals at the International Union of Biological Sciences (IUBS) in the 1920s. Professor Michel Siedliecki promoted them in Poland and helped to get the issue onto the agenda of the IUBS meetings of 1925, 1926, 1927 and 1928.Brien 1971. In 1927 Siedliecki, Derscheid and P.-G. Van Tienhoven of The Netherlands created the International Office for the Protection of Nature (Centre international de documentation et de correlation pour la protection de la nature)van Heijnsbergen, P. 1997. International legal protection of wild fauna and flora. Amsterdam: IOS Press, p. 21.International Office for the Protection of Nature. 1931. The International Office for the Protection of Nature: its origin, its programme, its organisation. Brussels: The Office.Bernard, Ch. J. 1948. International Union for the Protection of Nature established at Fontainebleau 5 October 1948. Brussels: IUCN, p. 3. [www.iucn.org/dbtw-wpd/edocs/1948-001.pdf available online] to implement wildlife conservation plans in Europe. Van Tienhoven was the first president, while Jean-Marie Derscheid was named secretaryAnon. 1928. "Scientific Notes and News." Science n.s. 68(1756):179. and managed the office until he resigned in 1933. That same year, Derscheid wrote a book about their experiences introducing laws for bird conservation.International Office for the Protection of Nature. 1933. Synopsis des principales mesures législatives concernant la protection des oiseaux: Europe, statut en janvier 1932. Bruxelles: L'Office.
Africa's first national park and the Akeley-Derscheid expedition