So, with the bats, they are also a protected species, but you are exactly right about offsetting the cost. I feel like we find all small/new born animals cute (there is an evolutionary reason for this, for what it's worth); it's just whether we find them cute as adults. 

Neil has the benefit of people watching him grow up over the last few years, plus he is around for just a month or two a year. Moo Deng fell by the wayside as she got older, and I think that was particularly because, being in a zoo, people were always able to see her, so as she grew, people cared less and less. 

The only large animal that the world seems to have loved even when they were large was Harambe..... RIP

Cje95

I wonder what the minimum size is at which we will name an animal and find it cute. I'm thinking of the millions of bats in Austin -- a city attraction and I'm sure there is a cost to the city in managing that bat population, but no name. That raccoon in Seattle on the other hand, fairly minimal damage, but has a name.