Lions, tigers and bears aren’t just among the world’s most iconic wildlife. They’re also among the most popular mascots in professional sports. A new study published in BioScience finds that across 50 countries and 10 team sports, 727 professional organizations use wild animals in their names, logos or fan nicknames. The most frequently represented species — lions, tigers, grey wolves, leopards and brown bears — are all threatened in the wild. The research, led by Ugo Arbieu, a postdoctoral researcher at Paris-Saclay University in France, identified 161 distinct animal taxa represented across those teams, spanning mammals, birds, insects, sharks and more. Threatened species and those with declining populations were selected as mascots significantly more than other animals or symbols. Mascots for rival teams Auburn University (tiger) and University of Alabama (elephant). Photo by Adam Brasher’s via Flickr (CC BY-NC 2.0). With these clubs social media followers totaling more than a billion combined, the authors argue that there’s an enormous untapped opportunity to channel the emotional bond between fans and mascots into real conservation action. “Animal imagery is everywhere,” Arbieu told Mongabay. “Across the five continents and across all sports, and both for men and women teams.” Beyond the big cats and wolves, he said, there is a long tail of unique species represented. “There is so much potential to communicate, educate about biodiversity and what it is, but also to engage people in a different way of looking at nature.” The idea came to Arbieu while playing the video game…This article was originally published on Mongabay

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