Animalia, March 16, 2017 1 Polar Similar: Intersections of Anthropology and Conservation Nathan Poirier and Sarah Tomasello Canisius College ABSTRACT Anthropologists and conservationists have a long history of conflict, largely stemming from the creation of protected areas that are frequently placed on the land belonging to Indigenous communities for which anthropologists advocate. While this paper does not wish to diminish the values of either group regarding this conflict, it argues that anthropologists and conservationists actually have much to agree upon. The industrocentric paradigm, which places great value on continuous growth and profit, is increasingly degrading the land and threatening both the humans and nonhumans who sustain off of it. Not only do activities such as mining, logging, and globalized agriculture pollute waterways, decimate valuable forest habitat, and facilitate the poaching of a number of species, but they also destroy the homes and impinge upon the lifeways of various human populations who rely on the land and the species that live there for survival. Recognizing that industry is a common adversary of both humans and nonhumans opens up possibilities of bringing people together for a mutual cause. Keywords: Anthrozoology, anthropology, conservation, human rights, animal rights, environmental justice ndigenous communities and conservation programs have a long history of conflict, often stemming from contrasting views of nature and wilderness, and “misunderstandings of one other’s perspectives on science and culture” (Dowie, 2010, p 460). Conservationists, who are facing biodiversity loss that is between one thousand and ten thousand times greater than the background extinction rate, are desperately trying to combat a sixth mass extinction driven by anthropogenic activities (Rose, 2011, p. 102). Habitat degradation, the main cause of such extinctions, has led to the creation of protected areas in hopes of preventing a competition for resources between humans and threatened species (Carsten, 2012). However, these continue to I