Fig 1.
(A) Recent, dramatic declines of the most charismatic animals. Time, but not date, is taken into account, explaining why all trajectories have the same origin. Long, steep lines indicate a large decline at a high rate. Icons represent populations. Wolf is not represented and 4 subspecies of giraffes are represented. The declines are tigers: over 55% in the last 20 years [7]; African lions: 54% over the last three decades [40]; African elephants: over 20% over less than 10 years [41]; savannah elephants: over 30% between 2007 and 2014 [42]; Central African forest elephants: 62% between 2002–2011 [14]; Asian elephant: over 50% in 65 years [15,16]; giraffes: 38% in the last 30 years [17]; Masai giraffes (Giraffa camelopardalis tippelskirchi): 52% in 35 years [17]; reticulated giraffes (G. c. reticulata): 80% in 25 years [17]; Nubian giraffes (G. c. camelopardalis): 97% in 35 years [17]; leopards: over 30% in 8 years [19]; cheetahs: over 30% in the last 15 years [24,25]; southern Beaufort Sea polar bears: 63% between 2004 and 2010 [43,44]; Grauer’s gorillas: 77% in less than 20 years [45]; Western lowland gorillas: nearly 60% in 30 years [30]. (B) Percentage of incorrect answers to the question, “Is this species endangered,” reflecting biased knowledge of conservation status of the most charismatic species. See text for details.
Table 1.
Status and trends of the 10 most charismatic animals.
See S1 Text for the calculus of variables. African forest elephants have been distinguished from savannah elephants when information was available.
Fig 2.
Population sizes and trends of the 10 animals.
Trends are calculated per decade, based on the data presented in Fig 1 (and on the latest IUCN assessment for the panda [33]). Average population size is calculated conservatively as the overall population size divided by the number of isolated patches (see Table 1 for data and references). Resulting size is shown relative to the MVP size, as calculated for these species in recent syntheses [46]. Note that previous syntheses provide more pessimistic data, with MVPs one order of magnitude higher [47,48]. Icons correspond to names in Fig 1. Note that no overall population sizes are available for polar bears, wolves, and leopards, and no trends are available for wolves, while data were available for forest elephants, which we have here distinguished from savannah elephants. IUCN, International Union for the Conservation of Nature; MVP, minimum viable population.
Fig 3.
Illustration of the competition hypothesis between virtual populations (here represented by iconic logos of commercial companies) and natural populations (here represented by clip art of real animals), whereby abundance of virtual animals in culture alters the perception of actual rarity in real animals and, therefore, the perceived need for their conservation.
A compensatory mechanism is needed to restore adequate conservation funding. Credit for logo illustration and human silhouettes: Mathieu Ughetti.