Wild Horses Couldn’t Drag Me Away (From The Fact That They’re Invasive)
A mob of feral horses at Yarangobilly, Australia (Image Credit: Ian Sanderson, CC BY-NC 2.0, Image Cropped)
Tag Archives: charismatic
Pinning it on the Polar Bear
Image Credit: Christopher Michel, CC BY 2.0, Image Cropped, Brightened
It’s an image that is ubiquitous in the media when the words ‘climate change’ pop up. The lone polar bear, drifting through the sea on a single ice floe. It is an effective image, evoking emotions like pity, loneliness and general despair for the plight of what has become the flagship species of what seems like the entire Arctic. But is associating the health of an entire ecosystem with one species useful, or dangerous?
Where is the Love for Parasites?
Parasites like this leech can be found all over the world, and anyone growing up near freshwater knows to check for them. But many consider these animals “gross”, so how can we motivate the public and scientists to care about them? (Image credit: John Douglas, CC BY-SA 2.0, Image Cropped)
As someone who works with parasites, I have to confess that I love them. They are beyond interesting, and I delight in telling people about them and what they do to their host organisms to survive. More often than not, people cringe or look like they would rather run away than hear more about such disgusting creatures. I know that as a disease ecologist I am very much in the minority when it comes to how I feel about parasites, but I think it’s important that we understand how vital these organisms are to the natural world, and the benefits they offer to scientists and their research.
Why Do We Only Care If It’s Fluffy?
Species like koalas are cute and fluffy, and thus easy to provide funding for. But how do we save species that are more threatened and less charismatic? (Image Credit: Jesiane, Pixabay licence, Image Cropped)
