Human beings have difficulty understanding animal populations as such. They want to know Sasha the tiger, not tigers in general. And often we must use that perception in order to get their attention. In my experience is when you do have people’s attention, they can understand that anything, the flagship species idea, whether it be a giant panda, a tiger, an elephant, a penguin, has been a very useful tool in getting people’s attention. The problem then is to turn that attention into the application of science in the species preservation that is more complicated, we’ve got to get their attention first. One of the wonderful things about zoos, about small zoos is that they can get people’s attention, and get them to think about that animal. And then we can be begin working on other steps. And it’s important to understand that if you’re learning about animals, how they live, how they, relate to other species in the wildlife community, how they relate to human beings, you learn an enormous amount about yourself and about human beings, and that’s not a bad idea.
