Ch. 7 BLOG 2014

Should conservationists allow some species to die out?

A recent report reveals that one in five vertebrates worldwide is threatened, but so is the funding to save them. Projects like the preservation of the California Condor cost over $4 million a year. Stuart Pimm, a conservation ecologist at Duke University states, "people have to accept that we don't have enough money to save everything." Check out the organisms on the endangered species list http://www.fws.gov/endangered/.

Hugh Possingham a ecologist and mathematician from the University of Queensland in Australia explains, "some endangered species are far more likely to recover than others, so we should identify those and save as many as we can." The California Condor probably wouldn't make the list.

David Jachowski a wildlife biologist from the University of Missouri gives an opposing view saying, "rare or declining species are typically poorly studied, so the easiest to conserve might not be the most ecologically important."

Both sides agree that a successful recovery program must understand why a species is in trouble in the first place and identify solutions to fix the problem before a species is reintroduced in the wild.


The original  Endangered Species Act (ESA fact sheet) was passed in 1973. Is it time for it to be revised? If so, what criteria do you think it should be based on?



See the following links for more information.
http://discover.coverleaf.com/discovermagazine/201103?pg=17#pg17
Discover Magazine
http://www.fws.gov/endangered/

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