For a while now I’ve been fascinated by the role that charismatic “posterspecies” play in the conservation movement. But instead of droning on about it today, I’ll just point out that The Onion is much funnier than me on the subject:
“If you want a poster that’s going to grab an audience, you show the gray wolf instead of the Iowa Pleistocene snail,” said Roberts, adding that no endangered mollusks made the final cut… it’s not like anyone is going to be inspired to protect wildlife by a photo of a nearly extinct medicinal leech. You go with what is going to bring in the dollars.”
