Who Wants to Save the Aye-Aye?
by Jasmin Malik Chua, Jersey City, USA on 03. 1.07
One of my zoology professors used to refer to it as "The Bambi Syndrome"—us hairless bipeds tend to gravitate towards cuddly megafauna like the panda; we're ready to empty our pockets to pull them from the precipice of certain doom. But can you get people rallying for an obscure species of clam? Does anyone really get pumped about saving the tuna? What about the almost grotesque-looking aye-aye, which, according to Slate got hit so bad with the ugly stick that conservationists are going to pieces trying to figure out how to persuade people that its unique genetic heritage is worth giving a damn?
Everyone loves a cute face. For humans, something about large heads, languid eyes, and flat faces appeal to something visceral inside us, not coincidentally, much like a baby's face does.
David Stokes, a conservation biologist at the University of Washington wanted to study why we preferred one type of animal over another. In a recent paper in Human Ecology Stokes analyzed hundreds of pictures of penguins found in mainstream photography books. He discovered that out of the 17 species of penguins that exist in the world, publishers favored three species in particular, with "a warm dash of color, either yellow or orange or red, around the eyes of bill." Humans, it seems, are meticulous even in our pickiness:
Conservationists, he argued, must understand the ways that aesthetic appeal can be used to motivate the public—and then try to promote the "less attractive" creatures by highlighting their most endearing features.
Beauty is only skin deep, right? Tell that to the aye-aye. ::Slate
what do you mean its ugly? I am submitting your post to Cute Overload right now and I bet they run it!
I think it's kind of cute too.
Great picture. So ugly it's beautiful!
I think it's cute, too. They could probably find enough people to save Aye-Aye, if more people knew about the animal. Do any zoos in the US have Aye-Ayes?
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JMC: According to Wikipedia, you can find 22 aye-ayes at
the Duke Lemur Center at Duke University. Outside of the U.S. you can find them at the Bristol Zoo Gardens, the London Zoo, and the Jersey Zoo in the U.K.; and in Japan at the Ueno Zoo.
I think it's adorable!
I'm all for saving it, just so long as it stays in somebody else's yard.
Nick Kasoff
The Thug Report
I think they could totally play up its natural quirky factor, and then sell the idea to all the Hipsters in Williamsburg who you know are just looking for the next "naked mole rat"
Even the name is perfect! It's easy to say, kind of catchy, kind of weird and nobody's ever heard of it before!
Why do I suspecct this post alone may create an illegal black market for poached pets....
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JMC: I really hope not, but people are whacko.
Apparently *we* are the type of people who'd donate to save the aye-aye. Surely you must have guessed that before you ran the story. :) Now, go find us a fund to donate to!
Aye, beauty is only skin deep, but ugly goes clear to the bone.
i love the aye aye! i read about this cute little guy awhile ago and fell in love, the big eyes, the big ears, hes like a disney character! he looks like my dog when hes fresh from the bath and soaking wet, before his fur poofs out and you cant see his eyes anymore.
I am going to take an old t-shirt and make it into a new save the Aye-Aye shirt.
I had a 500word beautifully typed essay how all of god's creatures are beautiful... but then i took another look at the Aye x2... Im guessing the poor guy was created shortly after cannabis.
There is a wonderful book by Gerald Durrell that recounts an Aye-Aye related trip - worth a look - http://www.amazon.com/Aye-Aye-Rescue-Mission-Madagascar/dp/0671884395/sr=8-11/qid=1172797200/ref=pd_bbs_11/102-7545634-3003304?ie=UTF8&s=books
I am sure a donation to his conservation fund would help to save them and their habitat.
http://www.durrellwildlife.org/index.cfm?a=2
Thanks,
Lisa - an Aye-Aye fan.
Fake - Photoshop!!!
Seriously, I'd have one as a pet.
--
editor note: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aye-aye
I have found a lot cuter pictures of it around by the way. Much less ugly.
Oh, and they are considered omens of death. Who knew?
My relatives and I had babies Aye aye in the Cape Masoala years ago, and my Uncle, Andre Peyrieras was the one responsible for the reintroduction of the species in Nosy Mangabe Island. He has no nice word for the conservationnists he worked with. The debate is flawed and the game rigged anyway. To me, it's all about politics at the end of the day, and what kind of privileges go to who. Back to the critter, sure enough, they are weird, but they are also a lot of fun to be with, and can give a lot of love too. What is missing is a real physical contact between the people and the animals. If more people had the chance to experience what it is to live with an animal like this, they would certainly do something else than giving money to charities they know nothing about to protect the animal.
When one really cares for some living being, the best way to save are:
1. to protect their environments
2. to help in their dissemination
3. help other people to get to know them
4. ask the right questions to the charities who use your money to do some work
I fear the day when only "specialists" will be authorized to share some time with wild creatures. We humans are becoming more and more disconnected to what holds us together. My life has been blessed, I shall be able to tell to younger generations in 30 years, I have been able to live amidst wild creatures in the jungle in my younger years. I just wish the same for everyone today before it becomes too late for everyone.
When an aye-aye arrives at Bristol Zoo Gardens it became an overnight favourite of local people who thought it was utterly, utterly gorgeous. Surprising? I dunno. Maybe tastes are more subtle than we think...
I saw some of these critters at Jersey zoo (the main reason I went there in fact) and they're great.
I found their special index fingers the most impressive bit - oversized digits equipped with radar (or thereabouts) - great for finding grubs in trees. I used to wonder if the person who designed "ET" got the idea from the aye aye...
eww.
ugly?...animal is animal, by the way, we humans are animals too. so basically you're calling yourself ugly as well. For my opinions, i think everyone deserve to live even animals...humans are to help the world not kill them.!
The Aye Aye is cute! I mean if we want to pick ugly animals...let's start with Bush first....now that's a hideous species that should be extinct asap!
I'm reminded of a bumper sticker I saw once that read:
"Animals are just little people in fur coats."
At the time I remember thinking that seemed like an awfully shallow type of environmentalism, if the only kind of animals you could be bothered to care about were the cute, furry kind.
I started a shop where all profits go to save Lemurs like the Aye-Ayes!
You can check it here: http://www.cafepress.com/ayeaye
(Or click my name)
I never heard or seen this animal.it seemes cute and fun.totally for saving it.but how?
Aye-ayes are only found in Madagascar in the wild, though some have been exported for breeding and conservation purposes in captivity. If you really want to help the Aye-aye, donating to causes that preserve or restore forests in Madagascar would probably be the best way.
I know Conservation International uses all the money donated through its online carbon offset calculator to preserve forests in Madagascar, and there are probably other charities that do similar work.
You can also listen to the calls that an Aye-aye makes on CI's website--they kind of sound like they're laughing!
http://www.conservation.org/xp/CIWEB/regions/africa/madagascar/ayeaye.xml
http://www.conservation.org/carboncalculator
I worked at the Duke Primate Center (now known as the Lemur Center) for 5 years and we do have the world's largest breeding population of Aye-Ayes. They are wonderful animals and are incredibly interesting because of their food finding skills. Recently, the DLC has had a breeding breakthrough because the first captive-born aye-aye born to captive-born parents has been born.
Additionally, if you want to contribute or support the DLC in other ways, see LemurLanding.com or go visit the Center to take a tour (by appointment only).
Lemurs are wonderful animals and, being an evolutionary island, they need to be protected!
I'm glad the imminent but avoidable extinction of the Aye-Aye has received mention in this article, however, if the author were really concerned, a link to how do donate funds for this cause would have been included in the article.
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JMC: Kindly do not presume to know me or my intentions. There's no need for this kind of passive-aggressive hostility.
I have to agree with 1Earth. Why didn't you post a link to help out the Aye-Aye? Usually most treehugger posters put up some kind of donation link if they're going to use a photo and talk about how endangered an animal is. It's not really passive-agressive, just annoyed, that's all.
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JMC: The point of the story wasn't merely about the aye-aye, but about the "Bambi Syndrome." I already gave you a list of zoos that host aye-ayes in the comments. It's easy to simply donate to them to support their work.
Kim, 1Earth, et. al.: Please understand that there are very _real_ people writing these posts and responding to these comments. We have feelings. We're not automatons who can anticipate your every need 24/7. There is never any need to get snide or rude. Can you understand _my_ frustration at your own refusal to do some basic research on your search engine of choice?
aye ayes are awsome. i have thought they were awsome for ages. thwey should all be saved and i would take one as my own if i could. we should start a save the aye aye foundation. then they would all live.
eh sank you for listening luv can i please have some flied lice
Hey
i am doing an assinment on the aye aye.
Whwn i saw a picture of it for the firt time i was like wtf
but now i know more about them i have realized that they are amazing craetures and we must pretect them.
i wouldn't have one as a pet though
xxx
hi, i'm doing a bio project on this animal. can you please tell mr What is being done to protect this animal?
thank you
i wish i could kick the world. this beuitiful creature deserves to live and thrive like all other creation. if we continue to hurt due to our selfish vain appearences, we destroy what was intended to live a life like all others.
Article on "conservation, development and the 'psycho-spiritual" with refs to aye-ayes & Madagascar on: http://www.ru.org/122-global-braid.htm
this thing is scary
The Aye-aye is so cute
Umms... Welll i Just Have To Say This... People Shuldent Even Say That This Creature Is Ugy.. Becaue To tHis Creature We May Be Uglly ... But That Shuldent Matter.. Wut Matters Is That This Creature Needs Help ... No Not Plastic Sugury Its Needs Us... Its Enviroment Is Being Taken Away And Slowlly They Are All Dieing.... If We Work Together We Can SAve It.. But Not If We Keep On And On About Wut It Looks Like..
Pce Out..
Ash
AHHHHH i have to do a report on this thing for my english class. i chose it because its so ugly its CUHHHHHHHH..YUTEEEEE.
thats quite an extremly ugly animal
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and I behold the beauty of another creature on the extinct list .
It makes my heart ache to see such defenseless creatures brought to the brink. When are we going to get it?
Good grief. Here's one hellovan endangered species and our primary fulcrum of discussion is whether or not not the thing is ugly or cute. Not that we're a mind-boggling superficial species or anything.
So what do we care, really?
No - REALLY...
I've just read that article referred to above ("Global Braid - Conservation, Development & the "Psycho-Spiritual") and I very strongly recommend it to anyone seriously interested in the future of aye-ayes, related questions of species loss and endangerment, and associated environmental, social and economic issues – not to mention wider & deeper questions of what the HELL’s going on in human beings’ minds!
Prof Tolkien' s Gollum from Lord of the Rings is said to have been physically modelled on the aye-aye.... general knowledge of which may not do the species any great favors.... But as Dr Copperford suggests, maybe that article might
(Thanks for that pointer - but for some weird reason it took me a lot of searching before I tracked it down. For anyone interested, try copying this address:
http://www.ru.org/122-global-braid.htm
I'm doing my endangered animals assignment for geography on the aye-aye and I totally agree! Sure that picture isn't exactly flattering but I think aye-ayes are adorable and I'm all for saving them!
Ri-chan
You think this thing is cute?!?! Are you serious?!?! This is the ugliest creature I've ever seen in my life!!!! My poo-poo's are cuter than this thing!!!! I hope you guys are kidding!!!!
You think this thing is cute?!?! Are you serious?!?! This is the ugliest creature I've ever seen in my life!!!! My poo-poo's are cuter than this thing!!!! I hope you guys are kidding!!!!
IM doing a report on the aye aye.. i think that this poor creature should be saved from us. if anybody deserves to die it wouldnt be them
there is a cuter picture of the aye-aye currently on yahoo's news photos, most emailed. it kinda looks like a tiny lamb with really wispy fur.
this creature is absolutely adorable - disney, or some such, should make a movie with these creatures!
I think that it is the coolest looking animal that I have ever seen. As a matter of fact, I have been researching on how to adopt one. If anybody has any ideas, let me know at ilikechix15@aol.com.
I agree. It is so ugly its cute....I'd help out
Damn, that thing is ugly! I have to do a report on it, so I really don't want to see one. It would be a hell of a lot easier of the people in Madagascar would stop killing them because of their retarded superstitions. (In case you don't know the story, when they see an Aye-aye, they think someone close to them is going to die.) No matter what anyone says, I think that thing is ugly as hell! :P
He is not ugly he is cute. u guy r mean he never did anything to you!!!!!!!!!!!! aahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh