Noah's Ark is full of common species attractive to humans:: The case of bold snakes in zoos

As the fate of endangered species may largely depend on human decisions, we analyzed the effect of species attractiveness to humans on conservation efforts devoted to captive breeding. Our respondents were asked to rank photographs of 56 species of boas and pythons according to perceived attractiveness. Surprisingly, attractiveness, body size and, marginally, also taxonomic uniqueness of the species were the only significant predictors of the size of zoo population. On the other hand, variables putatively associated with species rarity (inclusion in the Red List or protection by international law, geographic range size, and commercial price) had no effect. The range size was, however, positively correlated with attractiveness. As the perceived attractiveness affects at least some components of the conservation effort, it should not be further neglected but should be routinely included into conservation reasoning. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.