August 9th, 2006

Filed under:
Flora and Fauna, The Long View
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For Endangered Animals, It Pays To Be Hot

Here’s an interesting article from Seed magazine, discussing how an animal’s charisma impacts its longterm chances of being saved from extinction:

When the last surviving California condors were taken into captivity by the US Fish and Wildlife Service in the mid-1980s, they were transported to the San Diego Zoo’s Wild Animal Park and Los Angeles Zoo where, among other things, they were treated for parasites. Living within the feathers of the birds were Colpocephalum californici—an avian chewing louse that looks pretty much like all other lice: a bulbous head, stubby thorax, six hooked legs and a stout, hairy, segmented abdomen. But these lice lived only on California condors and were also facing extinction. More overlooked than willfully extinguished, the last C. californici vanished from the Earth in a puff of carbaryl-powder fumigation.

The point, if there is one, is that we can’t necessarily know which species will matter to us in the long run. But, then, you can’t save all of them. Can you?

Comments: One Response so far

Andy K
August 9th, 2006
12:08 pm

I’m not sure how they can call california condors, or any non-human, “charismatic.” They obviously can’t call them cute, and your “hot” is technically correct for a black bird that lives in the desert, but it wouldn’t be my choice description of a condor.

What is clear is they avoided saying that humans prefer “higher” organisms, ones that are more closely related to us. I actually think positive emotional response is the biggest factor. This covers the spectrum from cute or pretty (for endagered flowers) to majestic (Sequoias, bald eagles, condors). This would explain why pandas get more preservation funds (and WWF logo billing) than primates.

Parasites obviously have a negative emotional response, so no preservation funds. The article isn’t clear, but it sounds like the C. californici were discovered to be a separate and rare species after they were gassed. It’s not like the scientists had to choose between saving the condors or their parasites–it was an unfortunate oversight.

As for saving all of them, we can at least try. I found it fascinating how scientist can extract various significant data from the parasite population. This shows how all of the natural world is interconnected, how a condor in a lab without its parasites is not a complete picture.

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