CNN should be paying me for promoting so many of their articles. Just read an interesting opinion piece proposing that Endangered animals are more likely to be protected based on how cute and personable humans find them to be.
http://edition.cnn.com/2012/05/06/world/beautiful-ugly-animals/index.html?hpt=hp_mid
My first reaction was"duh, that totally makes sense. Why would I want to save an animal I hated?"
My second reaction was, well that's rather foolish of us humans. This mainly reminds me of my most recent visit to Sichaun's Giant Panda Breeding Center. Panda's are struggling to survive for two main reasons.
1. Bamboo, their main source of food, is also endangered and rapidly becoming extinct.
2. Pandas' digestive system is terribly inefficient. Only a mere 30% or so of the bamboo they consume is properly converted to useful nutrients and energy. So if you think pandas are lazy because of their eating and sleeping habits, it's not laziness, they're really just an inferior species.
Sure they're cute and very cuddly looking, and also made a great movie character thanks to Jack Black and Dreamworks, but that's about it. I'd be just as willing to support and encourage the survival of mosquitoes, who contribute a bit more to our ecosystem. However, due to my feuds with malaria, dengue fever, and bug bite infections, I'm equally in support of re-legalizing DDT to kill all those demon creatures.
But hey, I'm no expert environmentalist. I'm just a lowly TEFL teacher...
--
Byron Yee
TEFL English Teacher - Shenzhen, China
http://edition.cnn.com/2012/05/06/world/beautiful-ugly-animals/index.html?hpt=hp_mid
My first reaction was"duh, that totally makes sense. Why would I want to save an animal I hated?"
My second reaction was, well that's rather foolish of us humans. This mainly reminds me of my most recent visit to Sichaun's Giant Panda Breeding Center. Panda's are struggling to survive for two main reasons.
1. Bamboo, their main source of food, is also endangered and rapidly becoming extinct.
2. Pandas' digestive system is terribly inefficient. Only a mere 30% or so of the bamboo they consume is properly converted to useful nutrients and energy. So if you think pandas are lazy because of their eating and sleeping habits, it's not laziness, they're really just an inferior species.
Sure they're cute and very cuddly looking, and also made a great movie character thanks to Jack Black and Dreamworks, but that's about it. I'd be just as willing to support and encourage the survival of mosquitoes, who contribute a bit more to our ecosystem. However, due to my feuds with malaria, dengue fever, and bug bite infections, I'm equally in support of re-legalizing DDT to kill all those demon creatures.
But hey, I'm no expert environmentalist. I'm just a lowly TEFL teacher...
--
Byron Yee
TEFL English Teacher - Shenzhen, China
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