Are Panda Bears Really Worth Protecting?

Well...hmmm...there has to be something they are doing...or perhaps they are just one of those animals that is in the middle of the evolutionary process of weeding out unsuited lifeforms

A good friend of mine is paid by the government to collect particular frog eggs and hatch them out. This species of frog lives in three small (<250'x250') muddy pools in the woods of Mississippi and nowhere else on earth. The frogs serve no purpose to humans, have very little local ecological impact, and are diminishing in numbers - not due to any human impact but simply due to it being a poor species.

I'm a green hippie and all that jazz but people are crazy. Really? Protect some frogs that no one but the research team will ever see? Wouldn't spending the hundreds of thousands each year to instead purchase hundreds of thousands of acres of forest, or something similar, make more sense?

But at the same time if someone offered me money to dick around with an animal in the name of 'science' I'd jump on the offer. "Wait, you want to pay me to take care of cute animals and I get to parade around like a hero who's saving the world? I'll do it!"

Originally Posted by untamedlion33

not to sound cruel or any thing but just hear me out. they never screw, they dont really contribute anything to there natural environment except poop and and eat a little bamboo, and they really dont have any natural survival skills what so ever. if say a tiger attacked a panda bear its a weighted coin flip match. considering all this it just seems there not just going exstinct because people are hunting them so much as just natural selection. so by protecting them from human involvement are we really just interfering with natural selection and a natural cycle of the enivroment in the chinese mountains. it's just kinda funny they are still going extinct but if you searched your damndist for a panda fur coat your not gonna find one, not even an antique one, or for that matter even so much as a picture of what it looks like. it is because of this it only seems logical they aren't being hunted anymore and weren't really being hunted that much a hundred years ago. although i haven't bothered to look for panda meat im guessing i'll be wasting my time on that too. is it just a waste and we could be focusing our efforts on more important species or for that matter bigger problems like agriculture in 3rd world countries, aids, etc... or is this really a genuine thing, if so why?

yes. what else are we going to eat ..............................cute-food-photos-epicute-panda-bento.jpg

We know nothing about genetic diversity, have never even come close to completely classifying the insects, much less the smaller, most important biota, like bacteria. Some use arsenic, it was just discovered. So, if humans are worth saving, then pandas are. We will need as many examples of the epi-genome as possible, to save ourselves, I imagine.

Besides, don't worry about big do-gooder ideas. China is not going to shift Panda research to 3rd world agriculture.

I think all of our countries governments are guilty of funding far more atrocious, unconstructive things than animal conservation and preservation. The protection of a species with a dangerously low popualtion count is, to my mind, a far more worthy and noble use of funds than some of the absolute rubbish that our governments throw billions and billions of $ £ etc. into every year. Humans have been the direct cause of the extinction of hundreds, if not thousands of species over the past few centuries. I think the least we can do is set out to make sure this disturbing trend doesn't continue. Call me a hippy, but it breaks my heart. The natural world is beautiful and is absolutely worth conserving - Let's not lose touch with nature. It will be a cold, dark world when only humans, rats and cockroaches inhabit this earth.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endangered_species

Critically endangered: faces an extremely high risk of extinction in the immediate future. Examples: Mountain Gorilla, Chinese Giant Salamander, Bactrian Camel, Ethiopian Wolf, Saiga, Takhi, Iberian Lynx, Kakapo, Arakan Forest Turtle, Sumatran Rhinoceros, Javan Rhino, Brazilian Merganser, Axolotl, Leatherback Sea Turtle, Northern White Rhinoceros (maybe extinct in the wild), Gharial, Vaquita, Philippine Eagle, Brown Spider Monkey, California Condor, Island Fox, Chinese Alligator, Sumatran Orangutan, Asiatic Cheetah, African Wild Ass, Hawaiian Monk Seal, Mediterranean Monk Seal, Red Wolf, Amur Leopard, Spix's Macaw (maybe extinct in the wild), Siamese Crocodile, Addax, Baiji

• Endangered: faces a very high risk of extinction in the near future. Examples: Dhole, Blue Whale, Asian Elephant, Giant Panda,Snow Leopard, African Wild Dog, Green Sea Turtle, Malayan Tapir, Asiatic Lion, Tiger, Steller's Sea Lion, Markhor, Bornean Orangutan, Grevy's Zebra, Tasmanian Devil, Japanese Crane, Gorillas, Chimpanzees, Bonobo, Wild Water Buffalo, African Penguin,Goliath Frog, Lear's Macaw, Rothschild Giraffe, Giant Otter, Pygmy Hippopotamus, Hyacinth Macaw, Volcano Rabbit, Proboscis Monkey, Persian Leopard

• Vulnerable: faces a high risk of extinction in the medium-term. Examples: African Elephant, Cheetah, Gaur, Lion, Sloth Bear,Dugong, Polar Bear, Indian Rhinoceros, Komodo Dragon, Great White Shark, Hippopotamus, Mandrill, Fossa, Crowned Crane,Clouded Leopard, Far Eastern Curlew, Galapagos Tortoise, Mountain Zebra, Humboldt Penguin, Golden Hamster, Maned Sloth, Red Panda, Takin, Yak

• Near threatened: may be considered threatened in the near future. Examples: Eurasian Curlew, Blue-billed Duck, Solitary Eagle,American Bison, Jaguar, Leopard, Maned Wolf, Tiger Shark, Southern White Rhinoceros, Okapi, African Grey Parrot, Striped Hyena, Narwhal, Magellanic Penguin, Asian Golden Cat

Edit: Sorry to derail from pandas, but can you believe that the blue whale is near extinction? I don't know any kid at school who wasn't absolutely fascinated by learning about these gigantic, beautiful mammals. They definitely captivate the imagination. Now as an adult, I love to listen to the meditative sounds of the sea and whale song. It's eerily beautiful. Depressing to think they're on the verge of being lost forever. What a sad time we live in.

No, they're just a symbol for environmentalists to argue for detailing our economies and distracting where funding should be going.

How can the human race have the balls to kill of all these different species of animal, systematically and almost without mercy, and then say the remainder of a given population of bear is not worth saving?!?!?

One day, when we have destroyed the earth as we know it including ourselves, the other animals will finally have their planet back.

Originally Posted by MysticMorris

How can the human race have the balls to kill of all these different species of animal, systematically and almost without mercy, and then say the remainder of a given population of bear is not worth saving?!?!?

One day, when we have destroyed the earth as we know it including ourselves, the other animals will finally have their planet back.

As humans we are damn lucky we have not extincted ourselves.