Likeability of animals has positive and negative consequences for conservation efforts

Human population growth and climate change along with the pressures associated with habitat destruction, over-harvesting, and pollution will put species at risk of endangerment or extinction. Conservation of individual species is an important tool for maintaining biodiversity and ecosystem health. Research has shown that if people like a certain organism, it can positively contribute to conservation efforts, by increasing the emotional connection to organisms and support for programs to protect those species. However, some studies have illuminated negative consequences of animal likeability, including the potential for over-harvesting. This paper aimed to clarify how the popularity of organisms, specifically the Hermann tortoise, impacted students' perspectives relevant to the tortoise's conservation efforts to inform general best practices for environmental and conservation education.

Organisms that are perceived as harmless and attractive are more likely to have strong support for their conservation efforts, whereas species that people find dangerous or ugly tend to have less support for their conservation. As a result, increasing the popularity of an organism through education, marketing, and awareness, has traditionally been used to support conservation programs. However, some studies have shown that unintended negative consequences can occur when the likeability of an organism increases, including a desire to possess the organism by removing it from its natural habitat. For example, Hermann tortoises are easy to harvest and distribute legally or illegally into the pet trade, and the demand for these tortoises is high because of their likeability. It is interesting to note that children's desires largely drive the pet trade, so youth environmental education and media such as movies intended for children can have particularly strong impacts. Hermann tortoise populations in Europe have declined drastically because of habitat destruction and over-harvesting, and the tortoises are now on the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List of Threatened Species.

This study took place between 2012 and 2014 in the Southeast of France in a district that overlaps with the natural habitat of Hermann tortoises. A total of 1,545 students ranging between seven and eleven years-old (49% girls) from 21 schools participated in the study. The students were asked to complete a questionnaire with 12 questions designed to understand the dynamics between students' likeability and knowledge of Hermann tortoises, their willingness to protect tortoises, and their desire to have a tortoise as a pet. A data analysis was conducted to identify trends within the student responses.

The results demonstrated that students had high likeability levels towards tortoises. The authors considered this a double-edged sword, because, paradoxically, high likeability correlated to both a strong willingness to protect tortoises, and a high willingness to remove tortoises from their habitats to have them as pets. The majority of children (78%) responded that they liked or loved tortoises on the questionnaire, but the data also showed a lack of conservation-related ecological knowledge from participants. A minority of students (24.5%) could identify a Hermann tortoise from an image. When asked if the species was endangered, 42% said yes, while 33.4% of students were not able to provide any possible threats to the species. In the case where students did provide a possible threat to the tortoise population, only 3.1% of the responses focused on habitat destruction, and 2.4% identified harvesting. When asked about potential solutions to protect tortoises, 19.4% suggested captivity and only 0.9% suggested habitat protection.

When asked about their perception of tortoises as pets or wild animals in the survey, around half of students (51.7%) identified tortoises as both domestic and wild animals, 26.9% as just domestic, and 21.2% as just wild. The frequency of students identifying tortoises as pets decreased with age. A large portion of students shared their willingness to possess a tortoise as a pet (72.9%) and 34.1% of students declared that they would bring a tortoise home if they found it in the wild. The authors identify this as a “serious threat” to tortoise populations. Ecological knowledge was the most significant predictor for the response that students would bring a tortoise home; high ecological knowledge scores correlated with a lower likelihood of removing a tortoise from their habitat, while the response also decreased in frequency with age. The researchers believed students might have thought tortoises looked vulnerable or needed saving from a dangerous environment, when science shows that is not always necessary, thus showing how lack of knowledge impacted their choice. However, even some students with higher knowledge scores reported they would remove the tortoise from its habitat to bring it home as a pet, which shows that knowledge alone does not ensure students will engage in pro-environmental behavior.

This study had a few limitations. It involved a large proportion of younger children (90% were ten or younger, and 10% were eleven) who may not have understood complex environmental concepts, such as the links between an animal and its habitat. The authors acknowledged that there are many factors that influence the attitudes of children towards animals which were not investigated in this study, including their capacity for sympathy and empathy. In addition, students self-reported in the questionnaire whether they would remove a tortoise from its natural habitat, which may not reflect what they would do in reality if they came across a tortoise.

Promoting the likeability and popularity of an organism as a conservation tool should be done carefully. For species that have high human encounter rates and can be easily harvested (harmless to humans, slow moving, and small in size), practitioners should be careful while promoting their likeability as a conservation technique. Educators should emphasize that these organisms should not be removed from their natural habitat. Outdoor activities and field trips are more likely to create a balanced view of organisms where students like them but are also motivated to protect them as compared to other information sources, such as social media and movies where the likeability and desire for organisms may cause unintended consequences.