Conservation misconceptions

Today I want to talk to you about some popular misconceptions people have in regards to conservation. Like any sort of topic, conservation has also fallen victim to some popular misunderstanding by the general public and I here I am trying to analyse why some of these are wrong or how they have been misinterpreted.

IUCN Red List: The International Union for Conservation of Nature is the international body that judges a species status and gives it a rating from “Least Concern”all the way to “Extinct”. However as said the Red List is international and judges a species' distribution, ecology and population. This can lead to a misconception that an animal that is listed “Least Concern”is not actually endangered in a particular area. A vivid example is the wolf in the United States. The population there was deemed as endangered exactly because there were not a lot of there around in the United States. Internationally the wolf is not actually endangered, with populations of the tens of thousands in Russia and Canada. This is one of the most classic cases of misconception regarding different bodies and organizations of conservation.

Conservationists don't kill animals: This is unfortunately not true. As much as conservation organizations would love not to hurt animals, a lot of animals are killed every years in the name of conservation. Whether it is grey squirrels trapped and killed in order to help the red squirrels recover or whether it is invasive species killed or predators culled,killing does occur in conservation. It is however done humanely and with the greater good in mind. Invasive species are removed because they damage the environments, predators are killed to give endangered prey animals a temporary relief of pressure and so forth. The decision to kill animals is not one that comes easy and often there is a lot of debate and scientific investigation before a decree is issued. If you have any doubt on whether particular animals are shot in the name of conservation, then I urge you to research the subject as certain organization use the “greater good”excuse to push their own agendas.

Reintroduction are done in secret, with different animals than the ones that used to be here: Another common misconception is that conservationists go around reintroducing species in secret of the public. Although reintroduction sites and other records may remain secret to protect the best interest of the animals, there will never be the case of animals being reintroduced in a habitat without the people being aware of it. This will put animals and humans in danger especially if the animals are predators. There should be several legal issues on the reintroduced animals so as the money and time of the organizations involved won't go to waste if the animals are killed. In addition to that conservationists do not reinforce a current population without approval for the government etc. It costs money, time and a lot of lobbying and you have to remember that conservation organization not only do they have the greater good of nature in their mind but also care about humans. Animals that are different that the native ones are also a misconception as different animals may affect the environment differently. Animals are being reintroduced to maintain or restore a particular balance of an ecosystem. By reintroducing the wrong type of animals may mean that particular niches are not filled, other animals may be harmed and the balance may be skewed completely.

These and other misconceptions that I will try and analyse on another article are what is hampering particular conservation efforts or making others worse. I recommend keeping in mind that conservationists not only do they want the good of the environment but also the people so think twice before believing everything you have been told.