Do we care about extinctions any more?

On hearing the news of Lonesome George’s death, the last Pinta Island tortoise, most people are likely to think it is sad and noteworthy news. But do we really care?

As the world experiences what experts describe as the sixth mass extinction researchers have studied how people react to the news of animals, such as Lonesome George, disappearing from the planet for good.

The team, led by University of Galway in collaboration with UCD and Maynooth University, turned to big data and the world of culturomics to measure how we react to the demise of animals and plants and whether we mourn their loss or if we are numb to the effects.

The full study has been published in the journal Animal Conservation and is available at Click here for full article ...