Why is everyone still so determined to save the panda bears if China no longer has proper space for them?
China and the USA spend millions of dollars annually to try to increase population statistics on the giant panda, because there are only an estimated thousand living in the wild and another 600 or so living in captivity. These governments have been spending millions annually since the 50s, when their population dropped due to the increased population of the Chinese people. Panda bears have a slow gestation period, and after birth the mother panda must nurse the baby for at least 1 year. Some mother pandas have even abandoned their offspring instead of caring for their newborn from birth, resulting in a complete waste of money and time on hopes for this panda to help increase their depleting population. The various types of bamboo, along with the quantities of bamboo pandas need to survive in the wild are no longer plentiful in China due to their people's overpopulation. Scientists such as Jared Diamond have stepped up to state what a waste of time and money these efforts are becoming. China is pretty much a wasteland right now with so much pollution and overpopulation that it would almost be cruel to release pandas back into the wild after living in zoos. Even the wildlife federation (WWF) agreed there isn't enough room in China for a population of panda bears large enough to exist in China to remove them from the endangered species list. So, why are millions of dollars spent annually by China and the USA to increase the population of an animal that we don't even have the room and resources available to keep alive if & when the population does ever increase? Please do some research into China's pollution problem. It may be the biggest country, but it is also highest in toxic pollution as well. Have you not seen the images of chinese people wearing face masks just so they can breath the air with a little less pollution entering their lungs? Even other countries have confronted China on their pollution problem, since their pollution becomes our pollution. Money for panda bears take away from other species also indangered but not as "cute & cuddly" as the giant panda. I'm well aware of the definition of extinction. I've never seen a woolley mammoth, saber toothed tiger or black wolf but I'm not losing sleep over it. Ever think that maybe the planet has it's own ways of natural selection? Perhaps the panda's time and purpose of this planet is about to end...and humans are standing in the way of nature doing what is best for this planet?
Zoology - 4 Answers
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1 :
You are way over concerned with issues that are exaggerated by your mind. 1.) Millions of Dollars is almost nothing in the grand scheme of things, it only seems large to an individual. An example of something to be more concerned with is the F-22's we contracted be built cost 740 million a piece to put through production considering even our military would rather spend money on anything more useful, (chosen due to political vote mongering, not actual technical usefulness) that's nearly a billion per individual weapon that we don't have any true use for. 2.) China is F***ING HUGE, it is not a barren wasteland by any stretch of the imagination. They badly polluted around population centers due to their recent industrial revolution, too young to be properly controlled, but it is nowhere killing all the usable habitat in china. 3.) Know the implications of extinct, it means the animal is gone forever it will never be seen by anyone ever again. You can talk to your kids and they'll see it just like we see the dinosaurs or tasmanian wolf (to pick something more recent) it is just gone. But lastly, despite the costs in rearing panda's, and the fact that they will likely go extinct in the wild due to lack of timely enforced preventative measured, they still rake in more cash by drawing tourists and international attention by keeping them alive. That and by making an effort it is possible to at least prolong their wild existance, which is a far more worthy cause than war, yachts, cars and other common million/billion dollar endeavors. Sorry to sound like a rant, it's just that extinction is a terrible thing, especially to such a unique species. *additional edit* You gain more by choosing a species that requires large habitat area and is generally appealing to the public. The reason for this is the public is more willing to donate to panda's than those other "less cudly animals" but the byproduct of helping panda's is saving huge amounts of acreage from development, perhaps saving other indigenous species from habitat loss. This is common practice, and the majority of the pay does not come from any national government so it's not coming out of YOUR wallet anyway. The same deal happened with the california spotted owl people say "is it really worth it to save this one species of owl" Maybe, maybe not, but because it drew attention it saved a huge amount of the remaining california forest.
2 :
Because it is the right thing to do. Extinct means to be gone forever, never to be seen again. The Giant Panda attracts so many tourists annually to China that it is considered an asset to the Chinese Government to have them. People literally spends thousands upon thousands of dollars to go on explorations to see these amazing creatures in the wild. As far as the space issue with China YES it is very overpopulated and YES it is polluted but only parts of the country that has a high density of people is polluted and so on. So remember yes millions upon millions of dollars are spent to try to save these animals but its so that a 100 years from now your ancestors can see a panda with their own two eyes and not just know of the Giant Panda as a thing of the past.
3 :
With your attitude we may as well let every species on the planet go extinct as habitats are lacking worldwide. Do you understand that YES...extinction is natural but we (humans) have sped up the process to an alarming rate. We are skewing how the ecosystem works. We NEED to step in to save endangered wildlife and wildlife habitats because we are the the ones causing the endangerment and damage in the first place. Why don't we all just slit our throats now as we too will eventually run out of space, food, resources, water, air, etc. For someone who has named themselves "science is my religion"..it sounds like you know NOTHING about science.
4 :
To put things in perspective, millions of dollars can only hire you an NFL head coach for a single year, or pay the salary of a mediocre baseball player for a year. So, if the USA and China do not spend millions of dollars to save the panda, what good does that do? Further, we know that everybody is going to die someday. If so, then why spend tens of thousands of dollars per person educatiing, entertaining, housing and feeding human beings? These are all money down the drain, correct? Why not take all that money and give it to the filthy rich so they can buy a bigger mansion? There is no denying that China has a population problem and a pollution problem. But these problems should be taken care of regardless of whether the panda is in trouble or not. Pollution and panda conservation are totally separate subjects. The Chinese population should be given better education, because women who are better educated tend to have fewer children. Pollution can be cleaned up, and should be cleaned up. I see no reason why the panda conservation should end just because there is pollution and overpopulation. The panda is in trouble not because of low birth rate, something that is a red herring. They have managed to survive for millions of years with a low birth rate. Besides, their low reproductive rate in captivity is a product of captivity. Many animals, such as frogs, lay hundreds, even thousands of eggs in the wild, but they do not reproduce in captivity. Therefore it is captivity, and not the panda, that is responsible for their low reproductive rate in captivity. Some scientists may be rightfully pessimistic about the panda's future, but that is different than the silly campaign that some misguided people have been conducting to attack the giant panda and its conservation.
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