Unexpected allies in efforts to protect threatened species could include the unicorn, the yeti and the Loch Ness Monster. Belief in mythical creatures may help promote species conservation, according to University of Leeds (U.K.) researchers, and should be more extensively studied.

Says Dr. George Holmes, from the School of Earth and Environment, ““What we need is a more interdisciplinary approach to conservation that helps us to understand the interactions between humans and both living and magical biodiversity.”

The researchers cite an example from Madagascar, where spiritual beliefs about mythical animals are often interlinked with local taboos—called fadys. These cultural restrictions can result in protection for species, and have been encouraged by conservation projects seeking to strengthen such local beliefs.

One fady has been promoted to prevent extinction of the critically endangered radiated tortoise, which local Malagasy people refuse to harm, and in some cases even touch, for fear of spiritual retribution. However, residents will not stop ‘outsiders’ from harming or removing the tortoises as they were not seen to be bound by local rules. This case underscores some of the challenges of fully understanding the impact that magical beliefs can have on species conservation.

Spotted hyenas being fed by hand in the city of Harar, Ethiopia. (Source: Rod Waddington)Conversely, fadys can also result in the persecution of certain animals. The aye-aye is believed to be the harbinger of evil, with its appearance predicting the death or sickness of someone in the village. Local custom supports killing and displaying these animals on roadside poles. As a result, the fady-related killing of aye-ayes is listed as a key threat to their survival on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List, which classifies the species as endangered.

An example from Iceland: in 2013, a court case protested a proposed new highway because it would cross the habitat of a valued species—Icelandic elves, or Huldufólk.

And in 2015, 350,000 people visited an ecotourist site in Scotland in hopes of seeing the Loch Ness Monster. This mythical creature thus helped draw in revenue for the conservation and management of the area.

From the protection of snakes in Tanzania as ancestral spirits to the toleration of hyenas in Ethiopia as predators of evil spirits, magical animals and their implications for conservation merit wider consideration.