NationStates Jolt Archive

A panda at the Chengdu Research center for Giant Panda Breeding holding her four week old cub. The latest success story in trying to keep the rarest Panda species alive:

http://stb.msn.com/i/8F/17BDE8FD8BCDD748EC84FF0F27F.jpg

I applaud the efforts of those working to save the Giant Panda, but perhaps the damage caused to the species via change in environment and hunting has become irreperable. There's less than 1600 animals in the wild, less than 300 in captivity. Cubs have a survival rate of 35.5%. Do you think the Panda will make a comeback i.e achieve "Non-endangered" status in the next few decades? Or do you think it may go the way of the Dodo?

Wish someone would put me up in some really nice house, feed me and care for me, and send in women for me to impregnate...

oh wait...

I hope the Panda won't die out. They are such wonderful animals. I've always wanted to cuddle one!

Do you think the Panda will make a comeback i.e achieve "Non-endangered" status in the next few decades? Or do you think it may go the way of the Dodo?

Neither. I don't think there will ever be enough of them to make it off the endangered species list but I think with conservation efforts and breeding in captivity they woun't die out totally.

I hope the Panda won't die out. They are such wonderful animals. I've always wanted to cuddle one!

The pandas are one very good example of a species that evolution just doesn't favor.

why do we need pandas? seriously. do they have any impact on any ecosystem? or are they just "cute"

They'll go extinct. Any species that breeds itself into a situation where they don't want to breed at all is doomed.

Hell the females are only fertile about four days a year, that's nuts.

What I find fascinating is the idea that all species are deserving of preservation.

Hells bells. Nature does NOT work like that. Long before humans appeared on the scene, species went extinct and nature didn't give a flying damn.

We're bent on saving the cute animals, like the panda. Or cute animals like the dolphin.

But we're eating the tasty ones, like the tuna.

(just to let you know, the concept of "dolphin-safe" tuna is laughable to me).

If a species doesn't have the instincts to know that it needs to procreate to survive past one generation, it doesn't deserve to be here.

(just to let you know, the concept of "dolphin-safe" tuna is laughable to me).

I've been saying this for years, and have posted it many times on NS.

(just to let you know, the concept of "dolphin-safe" tuna is laughable to me).


You're eating Flipper!

What I find fascinating is the idea that all species are deserving of preservation.

Hells bells. Nature does NOT work like that. Long before humans appeared on the scene, species went extinct and nature didn't give a flying damn.

We're bent on saving the cute animals, like the panda. Or cute animals like the dolphin.

But we're eating the tasty ones, like the tuna.

(just to let you know, the concept of "dolphin-safe" tuna is laughable to me).

Exactly. Does anyone care about the oceanic sturgeon? whos eggs provide food for whole river ecosystems? nope, because their ugly as sin... everyones too busy freaking out about the poor manatees who do absolutely nothing but eat seaweed. Have we got a seaweed population problem? no. just let them die just like Stellar's seacow which went extinct in the 1700s, did the bering sea suffer catastrophic ecological damage? nope. Just had a bit more seaweed

/rant

why do we need pandas? seriously. do they have any impact on any ecosystem? or are they just "cute"

Hey cute is good enough to be allowed survive.

Hey cute is good enough to be allowed survive.

If you were in the cage with an adult panda and its cub, I'm not so sure you would think they're cute.

Hey cute is good enough to be allowed survive.

You seem to be the only one on this topic to think so.

http://www.sptimes.com/2002/03/19/photos/front-sturgeon.jpg

SAVE THE STURGEON!

http://www.sptimes.com/2002/03/19/photos/front-sturgeon.jpg

SAVE THE STURGEON!

you just want them for the caviar...

I think they should try to selectively breed a docile domesticated variety of panda, kind of like a ragdoll cat. One of those would make a hell of a pet.