Holmes, G orcid.org/0000-0002-5393-5753, Smith, TA and Ward, C orcid.org/0000-0001-8362-4713 (2018) Fantastic beasts and why to conserve them: animals, magic and biodiversity conservation. Oryx, 52 (2). pp. 231-239. ISSN 0030-6053
Abstract
There is a broad set of human beliefs, attitudes and behaviours around the issue of magical animals, referring to both mythical animals not recognized by science and extant animals that are recognized by science but have magical properties. This is a broad issue ranging from spiritual beliefs around mythical animals living in Malagasy forests, to cultural heritage associated with the Loch Ness Monster in Scotland. Beliefs and behaviours around magical animals can have positive and negative impacts on biodiversity conservation goals. Yet, so far, the discipline of conservation biology has not adequately considered magical animals, neglecting to account for the broader knowledge from outside the natural sciences on this issue, and taking a narrow, utilitarian approach to how magical animals should be managed, without necessarily considering the broader impacts on conservation goals or ethics. Here we explore how magical animals can influence conservation goals, how conservation biology and practice has thought about magical animals, and some of the limitations of current approaches, particularly the failure to consider magical animals as part of wider systems of belief and culture. We argue that magical animals and their implications for conservation merit wider consideration.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | (c) 2017, Fauna & Flora International. This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. |
Keywords: | conservation; Ethics; Madagascar; Magic; Snakes; Tanzania; spirituality |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Environment (Leeds) > School of Earth and Environment (Leeds) > Sustainability Research Institute (SRI) (Leeds) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 24 Aug 2017 08:57 |
Last Modified: | 11 May 2018 08:26 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Cambridge University Press |
Identification Number: | 10.1017/S003060531700059X |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:120359 |