Is Saving Pandas A Giant Waste Of Time?

The Guardian:

I don't want the panda to die out. I want species to stay alive that's why I get up in the morning. I don't even kill mosquitoes or flies. So if pandas can survive, that would be great. But let's face it: conservation, both nationally and globally, has a limited amount of resources, and I think we're going to have to make some hard, pragmatic choices.

Read the whole story: The Guardian

Comments

[jmpurser]

09:29 AM on 09/28/2009

Exactly how many dead canaries in our coal mine are you willing to accept?

[humaneismyth]

08:38 AM on 09/27/2009

reverse psychology.

[janeycat]

01:29 AM on 09/26/2009

after reading both of there articles it took me a while to come to the conclusion that humans are a endangered species too.
if we did not breed we would cease to exist too....species dieing off is a part of nature...just like species changing and evolving we are doing the same with each generation....
if this was not true there would be a lot of different animals still here on earth...
you cant say that humans are the only ones at fault...animals kill and eat each other in the wild and would in captivity if they could get to each other...
all i know is that so much money is spent to preserve animals and humans are dieing by the thousands everyday from hunger.
so who do we preserve starving people or endangered animals...
we need to get our priories right or we wont be here to take care of anything
and i saw Obama kill that fly too...he's pretty fast with his hands

[TigersEye]

01:08 PM on 09/26/2009

Humans are most definitely not an endangered species.

[humaneismyth]

09:19 PM on 09/25/2009

people will say anything to get their article read,I guess. Shrug.

[TigersEye]

06:47 PM on 09/25/2009

It's utterly ridiculous that there is even a question about saving endangered animals. They are almost always endangered because of humans. Human beings as a species limit their habitats (or completely eradicate it) and help destroy their food sources and then wonder why that animal's population is now greatly reduced. We should do whatever we can to help these species since we most definitely had a hand in their endangerment.

[Anastasia]

06:38 PM on 09/25/2009

Pandas play an invaluable role in endangered species and ecology awareness because... they are cute.

While cuddliness may seem like a fluffy reason to keep the species going, Pandas are the prefect teaching tool for young and old alike. Because they are so appealing and have human-like qualities almost everyone can identify with them, even those who otherwise, may not be ecologically inclined. Pandas do a fantastic job of pushing our empathy buttons.

The Polar bear is another example of how an endangered species can act as a rallying point for raising awareness. A photo of a lone polar bear a drift on an isolated ice floe is a far more compelling image than any number of pictures of receding glaciers. The problem of global warming is no longer an abstraction but a serious problem that is effecting our fellow creatures.

As to the extraordinary amount of time and money spent on saving Pandas; while it's true that saving the Amazon rainforest is far more critical to the health of the planet, allowing the loss of such an important symbol as the Panda would have a profoundly negative affect on the ability of the ecology movement to persuade the average citizen to care. Allowing the Panda to die out is not a workable solution.

[lkim65]

04:27 PM on 09/25/2009

What an idiot. The giant panda would survive just fine if it wasn't the destruction of their habitat. If we continue to destroy the natural habitats of species then I think we should pay the price to keep them alive, a quid pro quo. It's not that they are too weak to survive, it' s that we are too destructive.

[JM35]

04:27 PM on 09/25/2009

The worst thing that ever happen to the earth is humans.

[KIVPossum]

03:03 PM on 09/27/2009

Possibly true. You can make you contribution to save the planet if you want. I'll pass.

[chedet]

04:15 PM on 09/25/2009

Humans are destroying the habitat of most if not all animals, now we are deciding whether they should go extinct or not? Wow talk about greediness and selfishness....

[ScreenName05]

01:20 PM on 09/25/2009

Yes, I am sick of seeing cute pictures of pandas. I would rather save whales - not so cute but a heck of a lot more important to the ecosystem - and we are destroying the ecosystem on a grand scale..

[chedet]

10:57 PM on 09/24/2009

Why is this british guy complaining anyway? It's not like the chinese is asking his money for panda conservation nor is there any pandas in Great Britain anyway.

[Bearangaria]

12:05 AM on 09/24/2009

"Cute Animals" are the icons that help save a plethora of species....
including your average unattractive human.

[Ping]

11:26 PM on 09/23/2009

Species go extinct naturally. No they are not worth saving.

[Gasparilla]

06:18 PM on 09/25/2009

But they are not going "naturally".

[TigersEye]

06:53 PM on 09/25/2009

Unreal.

[eman]

08:04 PM on 09/23/2009

i think its a "modest proposal" wink wink

perhaps this statement will wake up the chinese and they will get some fire in them- and fight for their national symbol.

[GuyRC]

07:58 PM on 09/23/2009

Habitat is the key. You need to determine the number of animals it takes for genetic health, figure out how much habitat is required per animal, and then buy contiguous land that people can't develop. Since you can't buy up land in China I imagine it is a waste, unless we are talking spending the money to improve captive breeding to assure a continued stock for zoos.