Cinderella Species Matter Too!

The Critically Endangered Philippine Crocodile at Paignton Zoo (May 2015).
There are only 250 left in the wild, but they're not likely to be a poster
child for conservation!

Mirembe, the youngest member of the African elephant
herd at Howletts Wild Animal Park (14 months in this
photo, August 2015). Her herd, the largest in the UK,
is one of the most popular draws to the park, along with the
world famous gorilla collection.

What Is A Cinderella Species?

What comes to your mind when you hear the term "endangered species"? 

Do you think of the scimitar horned oryx, painted dog, humphead wrasse, Cuban crocodile, porbeagle, eastern bongo, Golden mantella frog, American burying beetle, or even a plant?

Or is the first thing that springs to your mind something along the lines of a tiger? African elephant? Gorilla? Whale? Panda? Orang-utan? Sea turtle? Snow leopard? 

A lot of attention and money is spent on the latter species, the charismatic fauna that normally are the first few animals that pop up on a quick "endangered species" Google Images search. They are the species that we see when we turn the television on and see a WWF adoption advert, and they are the species who we, as a society, are most likely to dig deep into our pockets for. The WWF, one of the world's largest conservation bodies, had an income of £46.43 million in 2009, 46% of which came from individual donations and memberships (n.d.). The organisation uses the aforementioned charismatic megafauna to bring in donations, and uses the giant panda as its logo.

However, what about the Cinderella species? These are the species not seen as being as charismatic. These are the "forgotten species" that are just as endangered (or if not, more so) as the charismatic megafauna such as pandas and tigers. Yet they do not get nearly so much publicity or attention, and therefore do not get so much money spent on their conservation.  

However, it by no means mean they're less important. In fact, it's the complete opposite. They deserve much better. 

Why Do They Matter?

Now let's also look at a specific Cinderella species, a special antelope species at Howletts Wild Animal Park (where I volunteered for the education department over the summer).

One of two Eastern Bongo calves at Howletts Wild Animal
Park (July 2015)

The Eastern, or mountain, bongo is a Critically Endangered antelope species. This is unlike the western, or lowland, bongo, which is not currently threatened (IUCN, 2015). Found only in Kenya, there are only around 150 of them left in the wild. They've been relentlessly poached, and have also fallen victim to habitat destruction. Sadly,  when informing the public of their plight in the wild, very many were surprised and unaware that it was more endangered than our pair of Sumatran tigers! Yet, like so many others, the species does not generally get the publicity is very much deserves. When was the last time you turned the television on and saw an advert asking you to adopt an Eastern bongo?

Why would it matter if this creature goes extinct?  

Think of the ecosystem as one giant, complicated jigsaw puzzle. It needs every single piece to be present, in the correct order, so that it can work and be complete. Let's use a West African rainforest as an example. First, you would need the soil and all its inhabitants to be present. Without this, forget everything else. Then, you would need the plants to fill in parts of the jigsaw- not just the enormous trees, or the beautiful flowering ones, but the ferns, the shrubs, the bushes, etc. Then you'd need the insects, and so on, and so forth. Eventually, the jigsaw would be complete, and you'd be able to see a healthy, functioning ecosystem which also contains the charismatic megafauna such as forest elephants, gorillas and leopards.

In the ecosystem, nothing is more important than another. They're equal. All organisms- no matter how small or large , how scary or hairy, how beautiful or ugly- matter just as much! 

Indah, the gorgeous Sumatran tiger at Howletts Wild Animal Park
(June 2015). Her species would not be able to survive without
the Cinderella Species that hold her ecosystem together! 

References

IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (2015)  Tragelaphus eurycerus ssp. eurycerus Available at: http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/22058/0 Date accessed: 16th November 2015; Tragelaphus eurycerus ssp. isaaci Available at: http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/22057/0 Date accessed: 16th November 2015

WWF (no date supplied) Income and expenditure Available at: http://www.wwf.org.uk/about_wwf/other_publications/annual_review_archive/annual_review_2009/raising_support/income_and_expenditure/ Date accessed: 16th November 2015