Letter: Post draws quick conclusions in article

The article that appeared in The Spectrum on Nov. 7 entitled “Environmentalists ignore many species” draws a quick conclusion about people doing some of the most noble and definitely the most important work on our planet.

The organizations that the author cites, such as World Wildlife Fund and Animal Planet, have been formed to get the word out to the general public that we as a whole are destroying our incredible diversity of wildlife.

To help solve this problem, these organizations need donations from the public, which they attain by helping them see how wonderful wildlife really is.

That being said, which group do you think would get more donations to help save it, cute, cuddly (-looking) tigers and huge majestic whales, or spiders that look like something you swatted the other day (yes, they want to protect those, too) and Hawaiian coots?

These large, popular animal species are known as “charismatic megafauna,” or large, cute animals, and get people to donate money.

Had you read further into the WWF Web site, instead of just looking at the pictures, you would have noticed that they tag these species as umbrella species.

This means that conserving habitat for these species will assist in the conservation of innumerable smaller species. Advertising with large animals is essentially a marketing ploy to get people concerned about the status of wildlife around the world.

As a biologist, I hope that people realize the value of diversity in all living things, large or small, “cute” or “ugly.”

If attaining funding for conservation means making them aware of one popular species so that they will donate, so be it.

The point is not that these organizations only care about a few species; the general public only seems to care about a few species.

The people who actually do the work care about every species, and the money that they use goes toward helping all species of concern.

So the next time you decide not to donate because you’re tired of the “Save the whales” propaganda, consider all of the other aquatic mammals, fish, fungi, insects, bacteria and plants that will also benefit from your donation, and do it for them.

Emily Davenport
Graduate Student
Zoology