Before we begin this section, how about a quick poll?

 

 

Am I right to guess that panda and tiger were the more popular choices?

 

Pandas and tigers are considered charismatic megafauna, also known as flagship species. These species are usually large, favoured by the general public, and often elicit conservation concerns (Ducarme et al., 2013). Organizations and zoological parks tend to make use of charismatic megafauna to spearhead their conservation efforts due to their likability.

 

The Zoological Parks in Singapore, too, makes use of charismatic megafauna to attract visitors. One such example is that of Ah Meng the orangutan, who was the iconic animal of the Singapore Zoo before his unfortunate passing in 2008. In fact, Ah Meng was the first and only non-human recipient of the Special Tourism Ambassador award in 1992!

 

Ah Meng Restaurant at the Singapore Zoo

(image credits: www.penangfoodforthought.com)

 

Ishta, the Successor of Ah Meng

(image credits: Channel NewsAsia)

 

The Ah Meng Restaurant pays homage to the late orangutan, and a new sucessor, Ishta (Ah Meng’s granddaughter) was chosen to take over her late grandmother’s role in 2016. As such, we can see that the orangutan remains as an important flagship species of the Singapore Zoo even till today, attracting visitor and tourists from many different walks of life.

 

Gaining the interests of the general public is an important first step in conservation education, as it can help to change people’s attitudes towards these animals! (However, we should also note that attitudes do not necessarily translate to behavior, as demonstrated by Ajzen’s (1991) Theory of Planned Behavior.)