Charismatic Animals

Researchers said the affection youngsters have for wildlife may be clouding the public's mind about how endangered those animals are. 

The study in the journal PLOS Biology listed what the authors say are the world's 10 most charismatic animals: tigers, lions, elephants, giraffes, leopards, pandas, cheetahs, polar bears, gray wolves and gorillas. 

The common depictions of these animals in commercial, artistic and cultural outlets (e.g. cartoons, movies) have led to what the authors call "virtual populations" – the belief that the animals are not at risk of extinction in the wild because they appear to be everywhere. 

The study used the popular French baby toy "Sophie the Giraffe" (right) as an example. Eight hundred thousand Sophie toys were sold in France in 2010 – more than eight times the number of real giraffes living in Africa. 

Despite their abundant media representation, nine of the animals on the list are classed as vulnerable, endangered or critically endangered on the International Union for the Conservation of Nature Red List. 

But conservation biologist Dr Sarah Durant cautioned that this doesn't yet establish "a causal relationship between seeing the species frequently in society and whether that relates to our bias perception of their endangerment". 

Surely, this represents an interesting area for further research.

Yesterday, Liverpool cruised to a 3-0 win over Bournemouth with a dominant performance at Anfield to move one step closer to a top-four finish. 

The Reds made the perfect start when Sadio Mane followed up his own header to prod the ball past Cherries keeper Asmir Begovic in just seven minutes.

Then Trent Alexander-Arnold's high cross found Mohamed Salah with his back to goal, but the forward reacted quickly to send a high looping header over Asmir Begovic with his back to goal – in the sixty-ninth minute – to bring up his 40th goal of the season in all competitions. 

And in the 90th minute, Roberto Firmino confirmed a fifth win in six games for the Reds with his 15th league goal of the campaign – when he dragged a disguised near-post shot past the wrongfooted Begovic after a driving run and pass from Oxlade-Chamberlain. 

Liverpool's front three of Salah, Mane and Firmino have now scored 83 goals this season in all competitions, while the Reds have managed 300 goals in 148 games under Jurgen Klopp. Impressive.