VIEWPOINT

MY WAY OF THINKING MARK CARWARDINE The broadcaster and campaigner explains why we need to personalise conservation, as now, more than ever, an individually named animal will make headline news.

ne of the great concept with a beginning, a middle species – but the frustration is that challenges in and (most importantly) an end. You we struggle to inspire action to stop conservation is that can imagine all those uplifting pictures the catastrophic decline of lions in the there is no end. We of him looking happy and living it up wild. How often does that make can never let our guard in a retirement home for tigers in the headline news? down and say, ‘Right, wilds of Surrey. Job done. Thank you The lesson is simple. We need to Othat’s such-and-such a species saved very much. Protecting wild tigers, on personalise conservation. These days, – now let’s go and save something the other hand, can thanks to the rapidly growing trend else’. The original threats rarely go have no grand finale. People might for simple social media sound bites, away and, with unerring inevitability, And even if we do  most people aren’t interested in detail. there are new ones lurking just around ultimately bring them take notice They don’t want to hear about the the corner, ready to strike the moment safely back from the if they were challenges of anti-poaching operations, we take our eyes off the ball. verge of extinction the intricacies of trade in tiger bones, This means two things. First, it (though, to be honest, introduced or efforts to close down the Chinese makes conservation interminably I’m not sure we to a tiger market. But they might sit up and take expensive, because we can’t take ever will) we are notice if they were introduced to a tiger money away from one species to destined to watch called Eric. called Eric. I’m being facetious, but it’s save another. Second, conservation is over them forever. true, and there are many examples to seriously difficult to ‘sell’. How can we Last year, two prove the point. Keiko the killer whale inspire people to support something lions – Saeed and Simba – made the opened our eyes to cetaceans in captivity, so complicated and long-winded, with headlines. They were rescued by the Cecil the lion put the reprehensible absolutely no guarantee of success? animal welfare charity Four Paws from ‘sport’ of trophy hunting well and truly When I first started working in abandoned zoos in war-torn Syria and on the map, and Sirocco the kakapo conservation – straight out of university Iraq. They’ve just been in the news (who shamelessly shagged my head – one of my first tasks was to promote again, being given a new lease of life in Last Chance to See) introduced the a campaign to save the tiger from in a big cat sanctuary in South Africa. world to the Critically Endangered night extinction. Thirty-seven years later, That’s fantastic – we should care about parrots of New Zealand. nothing much has changed. We are individual animals as well as entire I’m not suggesting a change in still trying to save the tiger. It hasn’t conservation policy. Just the recognition disappeared yet – so we must be doing that individual animals, with heart- Saeed and Simba something right – but it’s still teetering (pictured) drew wrenching stories we can all relate to, on the brink, just as it was all those attention to the raise money and support far more years ago. To the public it has become plight of Syria’s effectively than entire species. And if little more than background noise: zoo animals. that requires a little anthropomorphism, ‘Haven’t you saved the tiger yet? What by putting the spotlight on a badger have you been doing all this time?’ called Beryl or a hen harrier called Saving individual animals is so Harry, then so be it. much easier. Suppose there were two campaigns: one to rescue a cruelly MARK CARWARDINE is a frustrated treated tiger called Babar from a and frank conservationist. dilapidated zoo somewhere, and the other to raise money for tiger WHAT DO YOU THINK? If you conservation in India. Rescuing Babar want to support Mark in his views would get the most publicity and raise or shoot him down in flames, email

Gabriel Romero/ZUMA Wire/REX/Shutterstock Gabriel Romero/ZUMA the most money, because it is an easy [email protected]

September 2018 BBC Wildlife 59