Animals Wwf

what is the meaning of 'adoption' some endangered animals in WWF?

I like the phrase Birdgirl uses -- "symbolic adoption". It's not as if you'll open the front door some Saturday afternoon to find a 900 pound polar bear sitting there saying, "The World Wildlife Fund sent me over; you adopted me last month. Where's the fridge?"

The first link below is to the WWF adoption center. You can adopt anything from a dolphin, to a lemur, to a tiger, to a horned puffin. Adoption levels vary from $25 - $100. Over 80% of the money goes directly into programs helping the animals. The adoption includes various gifts and updates on how your animla is doing out in the wild.