An Animal's Worth

        An article in Discover Magazine asks a very compelling question.  It's entitled "Should conservationists allow some species to die out?"  It talks about the California Condor which is an endangered species of vultures.  In 1987 the population of condors was only 22.  Since then, conservationists have been devoting time and research to help the species survive.  But today, or as of March 2011, the population is only 381.  Of that number only 192 live in the wild.  The article says that a population of about 5000 will ensure the survival of a certain species.  The program devoted to helping the California Condors costs about 4 million dollars per year.
        So the article asks if whether saving the Condor is a lost cause.  Should conservationists instead focus on endangered species that are more likely to survive?  The article provides arguments for both sides the debate.
      On one side it says that the limit on resources and money must force us to identify endangered species that have the best chance of surviving.  "Some endangered species are far more likely to recover than others, so we should identify those and save as many as we can."
     On the other side, some conservationists argue that this prioritizing of species to get 'cheap wins'   can do unforeseen ecological damage.  They say that a rare species is "typically poorly studied, so the easiest to conserve might not be the most ecologically important."

     There are good points brought out on both sides of the debate.  And to be honest, I'm not sure which side to be on.   In an ideal world we should try to save all the endangered species. Who are we as a species on this earth to decide which which animal survives and which dies out?  Most of these species are endangered because of our actions; whether it's over-hunting, pollution, or destruction of their habitats.
    But we have to be practical, the world is not ideal, resources are finite.  We seem to have no choice but to pick out which endangered species is worth saving. I'm just glad I don't have to make the decision of determining an animal's worth.