Can flagship individuals support conservation?

You may have had your heartstrings pulled by the image of a starving polar bear in the Arctic. You may have even donated to an organization to get a cute stuffed animal that is your favourite. These are examples of flagship species. Flagship species are ones that can Garner attention and support. Most often they are larger and have some charismatic traits that help them appeal to the public like being cute or appearing playful. New research shows that you might not need a whole species to meet this requirement. You might be able to find it in a single individual.

Ivan Jarić and colleagues (2023) found that a single individual can inspire empathy and potentially action for conservation. Unsurprisingly, species level charisma still plays a role, but flagship individuals tend to have unique or distinctive traits, they are frequently exposed to humans, and their history or fate is both known and noteworthy. These traits tend to generate increased attention, including media and allow humans to connect to the individual.

What kinds of individual traits can help? Age, being the oldest known individual counts for a lot. Size matters too. Other traits include unique colouring or other body features and uncommon behaviours.

In terms of exposure to humans, any exposure counts. That means that it can be that the individual is captive at a facility or attraction like a zoo or aquarium. But it can also be the location that brings them closer to humans. Less positive is whether the individual has been habituated to people and therefore approaches people or lets people approach regularly. Social media can further contribute to this.

None of this should really be a surprise. Having worked as an interpreter at a local zoo, I can tell you that visitors were always much more concerned about protecting an ecosystem after they met an animal, with a name, who, were they in the wild, would need that ecosystem. But it is interesting that we can generate a similar response with animals that most people will never meet in person.

There is one caution in this. If people feel connected to an individual animal, this can trigger negative behaviours as well. For example, feeding a wild animal any food and potentially unhealthy items could have significant negative impacts. Popularity can also make something a target, such as cutting down a well known, old growth tree. Therefore, intentionally raising the profile of individuals has to be well thought out and monitored.