Panda: You Guys Like Me Because of My Beauty?
I have been thinking a question for a long time. Panda may be the most popular symbol of species conservation, because it is the symbol of World Wide Fund for Nature. There are so many endangered animals, but panda is just vulnerable species. In China, between 2000 and 2013, there were 9338 academic articles published about China’s endangered animals, covering 475 species, but particles about panda accounted for 11.23%. Why we prefer panda?
Some people answer my question, that panda draws more attention because it is cute! That might be reasonable. In the last century, ethologist Konrad Lorenz proposed baby schema: “infantile physical features such as the large head, round face and big eyes that is perceived as cute and motivates caretaking behavior in other individuals.” Here I want to introduce a definition — flagship species. It is the species that can attract public attention. The choice of flagship species is not entirely based on ecological sense, but also on its public appeal and attractiveness. The flagship species can attract public attention to its conservation, and it is often used for publicity.
Another related definition is umbrella species. Umbrella species does not necessarily have higher ecological position, but their habitat area overlaps with many other species’. So the protection of it benefits not only itself, but also many other species. Panda lives in mountain area in the southwest part of China. There are many other rare animals such as red panda, bear macaque, sambar deer, and snub-nosed monkey. The nature reserve here can protect panda as well as its neighbor.
A big problem in wild animal protection is funding. If we separate the limited funding evenly to every endangered animal, none of can be properly protected. In this case flagship species and umbrella species are two useful concepts on wild animal protection.
Sources:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3260535/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flagship_species
Pictures:
http://audiopress.us/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/wwf-logo.jpg
