Wildlife Conservation

On a site about gorilla protection I found a really moving photograph.  The post under the March 19 blog shows an image of a slain gorilla surrounded by concerned citizens.  The image is in collaboration with a blog that says they have captured a man who wax leadign the killings of many silverback gorillas.  This image is a very useful piece of risk communication when fovusing on Wildlife Conservation.  It truly allows the reader to see that these animals are still being killed today for proof of pride and skill.  It would also imply that these may not be the only animals being killed like this.  On a broader sense, it would make known to readers the illegal poaching of many animals across the world and brings to the forefront that this is still a problem today. One of the main issues with this image is that the people surrounding the gorilla don’t look too concerned.  They seem to be indifferent to what they are witnessing.  This could be a good or a bad thing.  It could cause readers to think they are indifferent becuase they simply don’t care and it’s not that big of a deal or readers could think that this happens all the time, a very sad idea.   It would be important to show this image to all people interested in the illegal poaching and wildlife conservation of all animals.

This second image shows human help in wildlife conservation.  The image allows those viewing to see that there are people who are studying an endangered creature, from a very young age, to learn how to protect them in the wild.  It also is a very young animal, causing the viewer to feel more sympathy towards the cause. Some may think that this image could show that there is already a lot of help and effort going towards wildlife conservation and to the protection of endangered species so they therefore don’t need to help as much.  This would definitely be a negative apsect of risk communication.  On the other hand, this image could show what the cuase is helping and saving and could defintiely create a bigger interest.

The third image i viewed, was a very powerful, cute image.  This collage-like picture shows a variety of animals that currently need help.  These are animals that are well-known by most readers and may interest them because they may be unaware that these particular animals are endangered.  It also provides a visual to go with the list.  Sometimes, if one hears that an animal is endangered it is less powerful than to actually view a picture of that same animal.  The words “Help Us” give the animals a voice and are allowing them to speak to the viewer.  One of the dangers of this picture is the limited number of animals that are being shown to the reader.  A reader may not remember all the hundreds of others of animals in need and feel that if it is only this small amount then help is not urgent.