Assistant Professor Yuya Fukano of the Ecological Harmony Agricultural Organization, Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, University of Tokyo reveals that zoos and animal animations raise public interest in endangered species and promote conservation actions (donations). I made it.

 In order to stop the ongoing decline in biodiversity worldwide, it is important that not only experts but also citizens are interested and cooperate and participate in its conservation.Zoos and television shows are important ways for citizens to learn about endangered species, but no studies have quantified their effects.

 In this research, the extinction of citizens is targeted at zoos all over Japan and the animation "Kemono Friends" in which various animals including endangered species appear, which was broadcast on TV Tokyo from January 2017 and attracted a lot of attention. We investigated the impact on endangered species interests and conservation behavior.

 First, as an indicator of citizens' interest, when analyzing the number of searches on Google and the number of views on Wikipedia, for example, in a prefecture with one animal breeding garden, the number of searches is 1 compared to a prefecture without a zoo. It had doubled.This effect tended to increase as the number of zoos increased.

 In addition, when comparing before and after the airing of Kemono Friends, it was estimated that the airing of the anime increased the total number of searches for animals appearing in the anime by more than 600 million times and the number of views on Wikipedia by more than 100 million times.

 In addition, zoo donation records show that after the anime aired, the animals that appeared in the anime received more donations than the animals that did not.Species with higher interest tended to have higher donations, and it became clear that increased interest encouraged action for conservation.

 This study shows that zoos and animal animations that are enjoyed around the world can play an important role in promoting and enlightening biodiversity.It also suggests that it is possible to promote more effective conservation by collaborating with organizations, governments, and experts responsible for biodiversity conservation in the media and entertainment industries.

Paper information:[Science of the Total Environment] Zoos and animated animals increase public interest in and support for threatened animals

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