Will panda go extinct? – Genome map kicks off debate over panda conservation

Comment

Merely protecting a symbol; let nature take its course

Pandas have become a symbol and in a sense, their protection is about the deep emotion that is attached to that symbol. We have spent a lot of money and resources to protect this symbol. Can’t we think about whether the money and resources are wrth it? Can we really afford these big lovable animals that will suck up so much of our funds in the long run? What we should protect is nature, not a symbol. So I think we should respect the laws of nature: natural selection through biological evolution.

–Yang Jun, university student

Protecting the ecosystem matters

Conservation, both nationally and globally, involves limited resources, and I think we’re going to have to make some had and pragmatic choices. The truth is that pandas are extraordinarily expensive to maintain.

We spend a lot on this animal and a few others when we know the best thing we can do is to look after the world’s biodiversityhotspots with greater care. We simply can’t protect only pandas; we have to protect the ecosystem they depend upon.

–Jeff Hunter, freelancer

A consequence of human irresponsibility

I do not think the job of protecting giant pandas is meaningless. Being able to allow a species to live on to enjoy the planet together with human is a meaningful thing. The reason pandas need our help is that people are driving them to extinction. We are taking over their habitats, so we are also the ones who need to save them.

- Zhang Boju, director of Friends of Nature China

Resources should be better managed

The “flagship species” argument (spees chosen to represent an environmental cause) is probably the only reason I’m not in favor of just pulling the plug on pandas. Of course, most of the funding in panda conservation seems to go toward captive breeding raher than habitat conservation, so even that might not really be a convincing argument. It doesn’t seem bad to put a panda on the cover of a brochure like WWF’s and use the money that pours in for less cute, more vitalnd urgent projects.

I don’t want to see the panda vanish, but I think resources could be far better used in other conservation projects worldwide.

–Brad Dukes, a journalist