Pick out pikachu

Eight-year-old kids can identify Pokémon “species” from the card-trading game more easily than they can name their local wildlife. Zoologist Andrew Balmford and his colleagues at Cambridge University showed more than 100 children pictures of Pokémon characters and common British species, such as badgers and oak trees. Children aged 8 could name 80 per cent of Pokémon characters, but they could identify only half the plants and animals (Science, vol 295, p 2367). Unless kids get more clued up about nature, says team member Tim Coulson, they won’t be enthusiastic about conservation as adults. “Maybe an animal version of Pokémon could help,” he says.…