The Cute-and-Cuddly Factor
“Dolphin Safe Tuna” – I’ve always had a problem with that particular phrase. I mean, isn’t it weird that nobody cares about the tuna, only that the dolphins are safe? I think dolphins are cool too, and very intelligent, but why isn’t anyone concerned about the tuna?
And when was the last time you heard an organization standing up and demonstrating against turkey hunting? But why would they? I mean, turkeys are kind of ugly. And, to go back to the tuna for second – oh yeah, they’re ugly too, so nobody cares.
And if you doubt me at all, when was the last time you saw a celebrity spokesperson gracing your television screen in order to save the Angler fish? It isn’t going to happen, because they’re ugly – whether they’re endangered or not.
I truly believe that the cute-and-cuddly factor definitely has an impact on what animals are deemed worth an effort to save, and what animals are not. And, particularly, I think it definitely has an impact on the animals that organizations decide to help/promote. Also, I’m sure that the cute and cuddly factor is playing a huge part in the wolf debate that is beginning to grip a big part of the United States. Let’s see, if the wolf looked like a turkey, would there be so much of an outcry?
And because these organizations only pick easy-on-the-eye animals, I think it puts a feather in the caps of hunters. We promote and protect habitat, which sometimes help to save animals, and other times allows them to flourish – and we don’t care how those particular animals look, or how photogenic they are; we just simply care about animals.
But many organizations – the ones who “help” protect polar bears, emperor penguins, dolphins, etc. – only care about the good-looking animals, and leave the other “ugly” ones to fend for themselves. Rational thinking and scientific facts get thrown to the wayside, because they’re just so darn cute and cuddly. Right? Not dangerous. Not destructive. Just cute.
Not us hunters, though. We want to see the turkey flourish, as well as the cute and cuddly Whitetail deer. We’re not prejudice when it comes to what animals we want to protect.
And if you doubt the cute-and-cuddly factor, here is a study about just such a thing.
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It is interesting isn’t it how our senses of sight and even hearing can direct our feelings. You mentioned wolves, and so many of the pictures we see of them are of a mystic harmless animal. To listen to them howling in the wild is rather haunting to hear. This is what so many chose to see. Why aren’t the pictures of wolves tearing big chunks of meat and muscle from a moose’s hindquarters or gutting them while the moose is still alive and has its head up ever shown? or the fetus being torn from an elk or deer, leaving the cow or doe to die a slow death while they feed on their fetus. Mainstream media has chosen what to show to infuence the human mind that is so vulnerable by what it sees and hears.
Good Post Arthur.
Don’t forget the baby seals! Very cute and cuddly. And then of course there’s PETA-types who will throw fake blood on people wearing fur coats, while letting all the people wearing leather shoes, purses and jackets stroll by unmolested.
I, too, am offended by this trend. And sadly, I, too, may be guilty of it. When I heard about the possibility that lead ammo fragments was killing condors, I was not moved, but when I saw a video of a lead-poisoned bald eagle, I decided to stop using lead ammo. Maybe it was the difference between reading about condors, and seeing the bald eagle. But maybe I’m guilty of the kind of discrimination you’re talking about. Sigh.
Oh my gosh, how could I forget about baby seals?! And it is ironic that the PETA-types throw fake blood at people wearing fur, but don’t think twice about the leather accessories that everyone is wearing. That would have been a perfect example to include in this post.
And honestly, Holly, I think we’re all guilty of it from time to time. But, at least we are aware of what we’re doing, and then common sense prevails.
Thanks for stopping by!
Bias toward charismatic species is a big factor, to be sure. But don’t hunters and anglers have their own conservation bias, toward species they want to hunt and catch?
Turkeys may seem ugly to some people, but the hunter-conservationist logic wasn’t “here’s a species in trouble, let’s help it.” Rather, it was “here’s a species in trouble that we want to hunt, let’s help it.”
I grant you that habitat conservation efforts aimed, for example, at turkey or elk will also benefit other species. But I’ve often heard complaints from other hunters that a F&W agency is putting too much time and effort into non-game species conservation, even though it remains a tiny fraction of the agency’s total efforts.
Thankfully, many of our fellow hunters ARE sincerely interested in all flora and fauna, not just preferred game species. That broad-minded approach is one we need to emphasize. As it stands, many species are below-the-radar for all conservation groups, hunting and non-hunting alike.
Maybe they should go cuddle with wolves and see how cute they are then!