Leading animal welfare and conservation nonprofit, Born Free USA, has today launched its “Big Five and Little Five” initiative. The awareness-raising campaign seeks to encourage members of the public to look close to home when considering conservation efforts, by demonstrating the importance of native species to the environment. Using the “African Big Five” (elephants, lions, rhinos, leopards, and African buffalos) as inspiration, the campaign establishes the “North American Big Five” – five large-bodied mammals native to North America whose survival is under threat – and the actions that can be taken to help them. Along with the iconic “Big Five” species (wolves, polar bears, grizzly bears, bison, and moose), the campaign also works to raise positive awareness around smaller, more maligned species native to North America. Dubbed the “Little Five,” Born Free explores the positive attributes of animals often unfairly considered “pests”: raccoons, groundhogs, skunks, opossums, and beavers.
Said Born Free USA Programs Director, Liz Tyson:
“Ask anyone about what they know about threatened species and you may hear about rhinos being poached for their horns, or lions being targeted by trophy hunters. But if you ask the same people to tell you about threats to animals in North America, the answers might not be so forthcoming. There is a strong global awareness of the African ‘Big Five’ and important conservation efforts have rightly been focused on these species for many years. However, there is a tendency to overlook our treatment of animals in other parts of the world who are just as important, both collectively and as individuals, as elephants and their close neighbors. Indeed, while many people in North America would be somewhat aware of the plight of lions and rhinos on a continent on the other side of the world, they may be less likely to be aware of the threats facing animals closer to home. We hope the Big Five and Little Five campaign will help to raise important awareness on this issue.”
North America is home to countless species of amazing eco-engineers whose members not only play a vital role in a healthy ecosystem from which all of North America’s human society benefits, but which are made up of individual animals who deserve our respect, care, and protection. And yet, these animals are extensively exploited by multiple human activities, including hunting, trapping, encroachment on and destruction of habitat, being held captive for entertainment, among other cruelties.
For example, in just the last year, vital protections under the Endangered Species Act have been stripped from gray wolves. In direct response to this, multiple states have significantly expanded hunting activities, which target wolves and threaten the species’ survival in the long-term. Moose are the largest existing members of the deer family in the world and are under threat from disease spread and climate change. Polar bears are also victims of climate change as diminishing ice floes have led to the bears being pushed closer and closer to human settlements in search of food. This results in human-wildlife conflict that, all too often, results in the death of the bears. Meanwhile, smaller species such as beavers are cruelly trapped for their fur, which not only causes immense suffering but also inhibits the species from performing its vital ecosystem function as a wetlands regulator. Similarly, even though opossums help to prevent the spread of dangerous tick-borne disease, they are often the target of lethal control as people mistakenly consider them “pests.”
Says Angela Grimes, Born Free USA CEO, “We are at a critical moment for the future of wildlife and wild places. Throughout the Big Five and Little Five campaign, we will call on the public to take specific actions to promote the conservation of these North American wildlife species and their habitats by urging the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to restore federal Endangered Species Act protections to gray wolves; asking the U.S. Department of the Interior to increase funding for bison protections; and writing to lawmakers in support of legislation to protect habitats and fight climate change. We must act now to secure the future of wildlife.”
Tyson continued: “We hope that this campaign will help people to connect the dots between these iconic species and the roles they play in helping to maintain a healthy ecosystem for everyone, as well as helping people to see the animals who make up that species as important and valuable individuals in their own right. We also really want to shine a light on some of the amazing attributes of animals who are so often dismissed as a ‘nuisance.’ For example, did you know that skunks know how to perform handstands, and that raccoons’ masks perform a vital function in helping them see better at night?”
Find out more with our interactive infographic at www.bornfreeusa.org/big5little5.
