charismatic megafauna

It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Megafauna. (Discuss)

The term charismatic megafauna refers to large animals that have widespread popular appeal. Examples include the Giant Panda, the Asian Elephant, and the Blue Whale.^{[citation needed]}

Environmental activists can use the leverage provided by a charismatic species to achieve more subtle and far-reaching goals. By directing public attention to the plight of the Giant Panda, for example, environmental organizations can raise support not just for the protection of the panda, but for the entire ecosystem on which it depends.^{[citations needed]} (The Giant Panda is portrayed in the logo of the World Wide Fund for Nature.) An editorial in The Economist magazine suggested that charismatic megafauna are particularly subject to taxonomic inflation, in that environmentalists will declare a subspecies to be a species because of the advocacy benefits, rather than new scientific evidence.^[1]

Further reading

• Petersen, Shannon (1999). "Congress and charismatic megafauna: a legislative history of the Endangered Species Act". Environmental Law 29. 
• Leader-Williams, N. & H. T. Dublin (2000). "Charismatic megafauna as 'flagship species'", in Entwistle, A. and N. Dunstone: Priorities for the Conservation of Mammalian Diversity: Has the Panda had its Day?. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 53-81. ISBN 0 521 77279 6. 
• Goodwin, H. and N. Leader-Williams (2000). "Tourism and protected areas - distorting conservation priorities towards charismatic megafauna?", in Entwistle, A. and N. Dunstone: Priorities for the Conservation of Mammalian Biodiversity: Has the Panda had its Day?. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 257-275. ISBN 0 521 77279 6. 
• Barney, Erin C., Joel J. Mintzes and Chiung-Fen Yen (2005). "Assessing Knowledge, Attitudes, and Behavior toward Charismatic Megafauna: The Case of Dolphins". Journal of Environmental Education 36 (2): 41–55. 

Notes and references

See also

• Weeping Gorilla Comix

External links

• Word Spy article on the term

Donate to Wikimedia