Animal conservation mostly based on look

Is charisma all in this decisive beauty contest?

Iconography linked to pandas symbolizes all that is wrong in the typical human approach to nature, in which the animals that interest in preserving are the 'cute', 'huggable' and charismatic. The species we recognize as worthy of priority attention are not necessarily those whose extinction would produce a dire unbalance on earth. We are damning innumerable other species and entire ecosystems simply because the general public does not gravitate towards them at the zoo. If this continues at the scale of one hundred and fifty species going extinct per day, this planet will soon be home for only a few species. To achieve the 2010 target to reduce biodiversity loss, governments and communities should change and broaden their conservation programmes. But are they?


By LUAN GALANI
from Curitiba, BRAZIL


Feared like no other animal in the world, shark lives more from its sanguinary fame than a lifelike violent historic. With its wide open jaws full of sharp teeth and its half-moon-shaped caudal fin roving in the water, sharks are swimming close to extinction. According to a report of the United Nations, 100 millions of sharks are killed every year - approximately 270 thousand sharks per day - what unbalances the sea environment.

Also, the first global study of open ocean sharks and rays released in June by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), considered the world's most comprehensive inventory of the conservation status of plants and animals, pointed out that 32 percent of the shark species are threatened with extinction. The reason: they are increasingly targeted for their meat, liver oil and because of high demand for their fins, which are used in shark fin soup, a delicacy in parts of East Asia. To grapple with that, a meeting was held recently in Brussels, trying to change the fact that EU countries are the main exporter of shark fins to China. However, convincing the public that an offshore menace is worthy of protection has not been easy. But why?

The clue to the answer can be found in an article from The New York Times. The article, albeit about the baiji's extinction, started by making the claim that baiji was not a member of 'charismatic sea mammals that have long been the focus of conservation campaigns'. It clearly condemned the animal because it lacked the 'charisma' required by humans to be allowed to survive. And this lack of cute faces can also be applied to sharks. So, is that our civilized criterion for choosing which species we are going to put in our contemporary Noah's ark? Unfortunately, as the situation stands, yes.

Pandas X Bees

There is great movement around pandas (WWF symbol), in a seething mass of organizations that determinately try to put an end to the danger of extinction of these cute bears with squat furry bodies and sad black eyes. On the other hand, the possible extinction of bees does not plunge anyone. The bees' job has an indispensable role in nature. They pollinate angyosperms (plants with flowers). If we consider that these plants correspond to almost 90% of all on the planet and that their reproduction depends mostly on pollen transport by animals, in special bees, we ought to be much more concerned about the insects preservation.

Also, in recent years, as a 'Science' article point out, scientists verified a strong and abruptly reduction of beehives mainly in the US since the 1970s. But beekeppers observed similar phenomena in Europe, what can be confirmed by a Le Monde piece of news, a Les Echos and a Sueddeutsche.de. Aside from fundamental concerns about the survival of bee species, the dramatic collapse is economically significant because many agricultural crops worldwide are pollinated by bees, as defended by some researches from Penn State University College of Agricultural Sciences. Now, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization is spending $28m on a report investigating the pollination crisis that is under way, as says The Economist.

So, coming back to the main issue, if pandas disappeared tomorrow, probably the world would continue to be more or less the same, but if it happened to bees the situation would be very different. Besides the lack of honey at supermarkets, most part of vegetation would disappear. Panda, with its alimentary specialization, eating basically leaves and bamboo, is begging to joltly disappear, following Darwin's natural selection.

Reasons for focusing on some certain threatened species

Conservation organizations chooses to protect some species, unconsciously or not, based on what is often called 'charisma', selecting alluring animals. Lions remind the myth of kingship, whales are awe-inspiring, tigers are elegant and deadly, and elephants and apes are extremely intelligent. From that, we can construe a lot of things. First that the favorite conservation animals are mammals. Birds come in the second favorite position but reptiles, amphibians, fish, and, least of all, insects and plants are rarely the subject of conservation efforts. Broadly speaking, we prefer predators to prey and beauty to ugly.

Jonathan Baillie, Head of the EDGE programme (Evolutionarily Distinct and Globally Endangered species programme), commented: "Tragically, amphibians tend to be the overlooked members of the animal kingdom, even though one in every three amphibian species is currently threatened with extinction, a far higher proportion than that of bird or mammal species".

Basically, animal conservation should not be a charismatic contest. Should emphasize first on those animals that are biologically unique and under severe threat. Like the Attenborough's Long-Beaked Echidna, Hispaniolan Solenodon, Slender Loris, Hirola, Golden-rumped Elephant Shrew, Bumblebee Bat and the Long-eared Jerboa. Now, how many of those can you picture? By selecting unheard-of species like these, EDGE, which was founded in 2007 as a part of the London Zoological Society, looks to the future of conservation programmes, regarding the importance of all fauna.

To sum up, I want to clear that none of what has been said here is aimed at diminishing the incredible work that bold conservation organizations are doing and have done for years. It is just important to highlight and bear in mind that instead of saving only 'beautiful faces' a little bit here and a bit there, we must preserve all life, from bees to pandas.


(Published: 18.07.2009.)