Gen Z track vulnerable bird species using Pokemon experience

ABC NEWS (Australia)

A new generation of birdwatchers are applying the same skillset they used to hunt Pokemon to finding their favourite feathered friends. And their efforts are helping to track the status of some rare and vulnerable species.

Transcript

00:0040 nautical miles off Western Australia's south coast, flesh-footed shearwaters and

00:07Indian yellow-nosed albatross tussle over a skerrick of food.

00:11These majestic seabirds high on the birdwatchers must see list.

00:16Among the crowd, veteran birdwatchers.

00:18How long have you been birdwatching?

00:20All of this century.

00:21A new generation of twitchers is also on board.

00:24It's been an addiction since I was about eight years old.

00:28I got into birding about three years ago and yeah, I've sort of gotten addicted since

00:32then.

00:33Oh yeah, no.

00:34Members of Generation Z taking their passion for phone-based games like Pokemon Go to sightings

00:39of rare and favourite birds.

00:42You can list and you can see what other people are getting in your area and across Australia

00:46and you can see where you are on the leaderboard for the year and for all time and it becomes

00:50a bit competitive.

00:51Some GEDZ birdwatchers have hundreds of thousands of followers on social media.

00:56And yeah, you'll find if you talk to a lot of birders, I'm not the only person who's

00:59had that thought that this is like Pokemon.

01:02This is real-life Pokemon.

01:03Content creators like Jacob DeLeo shine a light on the vulnerable state of some species.

01:08You know, hunting down like a rare bird, critically endangered bird, but then realising how sad

01:13that actually is that there's not many of these birds left.

01:17This new generation of birdwatchers is also contributing to valuable data about the status

01:21of global populations.

01:22You know, I think that sort of digital access to birding and sharing of images on social

01:27media has been a huge drawcard for the younger generation.

01:30It's great to have that new mix coming through.

01:33Birdwatching for a greater good.

01:34Birdwatching for a greater good.

01:35Birdwatching for a greater good.

Category

Transcript

Be the first to comment

Recommended