16% of nemo species nearly to extinction

[ky04y0u]

(NEWSER) – You might not
be able to find Nemo soon.
Environmentalists warn that
16% of species associated with
characters in the mega-popular
Pixar animated movie Finding
Nemo are at risk of extinction.
“These are species that should
be doing better because they
are the ones we care about,”
said a spokeswoman for the
survey conducted by the
International Union for
Conservation of Nature and a
Canadian university. Especially
threatened are species including
turtles (like Squirt and Crush),
hammerhead sharks (Anchor)
and rays because "they've got
life histories that cause them to
interact with people wherever
they go," she adds.
Even little Nemo's species, the
clownfish, is in trouble—though
not yet at risk of extinction—in
part because of the movie.
People raced to pet shops for
their own Nemo after they saw
the 2003 film, triggering a
significant reduction of clownfish
on coral reefs. "When people
see a beautiful film about
tigers, they don’t go out and
shoot a tiger. They don’t go
out and purchase a tiger,” a
marine biologist tells the
Washington Post. “In the case of
things in the ocean, they think,
‘I care about them, so I’d like
to have them,’ or, ‘I care about
them, that’s why I’d like to fish
them.'" The scientists, who
enjoyed multiple viewings of the
movie, are publishing their
findings today in Conservation
Letters. Disney could not be
reached for comment.