Is the giant panda worth saving?

[Major-Tom]

Pandas are literally more valuable than my own life ffs, have you seen one? Natural selection and whatnot, yeah yeah, fuck that in this instance, because just look at them.

Look at them. If we're ever contacted by an intelligent alien species, the first thing we oughta show them are pandas and how fucking kickass they are. And like, yeah, I know it's costly, I know it's asinine, but this is an instance wherein I'm simply going to respond to pure emotion. Period.

[Bombadil]

Pandas are literally more valuable than my own life ffs, have you seen one? Natural selection and whatnot, yeah yeah, fuck that in this instance, because just look at them.

Look at them. If we're ever contacted by an intelligent alien species, the first thing we oughta show them are pandas and how fucking kickass they are. And like, yeah, I know it's costly, I know it's asinine, but this is an instance wherein I'm simply going to respond to pure emotion. Period.

Aliens be like 'thanks for this wonderful treat' and promptly eat them.

[The Free Joy State]

Pandas are literally more valuable than my own life ffs, have you seen one? Natural selection and whatnot, yeah yeah, fuck that in this instance, because just look at them.

Look at them. If we're ever contacted by an intelligent alien species, the first thing we oughta show them are pandas and how fucking kickass they are. And like, yeah, I know it's costly, I know it's asinine, but this is an instance wherein I'm simply going to respond to pure emotion. Period.

Aliens be like 'thanks for this wonderful treat' and promptly eat them.

Not all aliens will be the aliens from Mars Attacks!...

And, yes, we should try and preserve the giant panda. Eco-diversity, once lost, can never be regained. And they're cute as hell.

That doesn't mean more money shouldn't be invested in other lifeforms that are vulnerable to extinction, like the mangroves the OP mentioned.

[Bombadil]

Aliens be like 'thanks for this wonderful treat' and promptly eat them.

Not all aliens will be the aliens from Mars Attacks!...

And, yes, we should try and preserve the giant panda. Eco-diversity, once lost, can never be regained. And they're cute as hell.

That doesn't mean more money shouldn't be invested in other lifeforms that are vulnerable to extinction, like the mangroves the OP mentioned.

"Interesting opinion", said the alien as he picked his teeth with a Panda claw, "say, you're a little on the chubby side aren't you? Here, come sit in this nice hot.. amm.. bath, lovely hot bath with carrot and onion bath salts.."

[Daarwyrth]

That doesn't mean more money shouldn't be invested in other lifeforms that are vulnerable to extinction, like the mangroves the OP mentioned.

I'd say, less corporate welfare and more investment in eco-diversity, all eco-diversity!

[Duhon]

daarwyrth has it right
men make up all this tech to save themselves but not others because they're not worth it? what shit
what makes us final arbiters of life and death anyway?

[Saint Alban Islands]

Seeing OP‘s political beliefs I never thought I‘d agree with him on something

[East Gondwana]

As an ardent environmentalist and as someone deeply and profoundly concerned with ecological state of the environment: no. If there were only a handful of critically endangered species around then yeah we should try, but as we are in the middle of a mass extinction event, and as the Giant Panda is about as far from a keystone species as possible, it makes NO sense to keep poring limited resources into saving pandas when so many keystone species and vital ecosystems are dying off and collapsing.

The simple fact is that as OP says, this is a species that is not really that well adapted to even the slightest selective pressures and given that climate change is no longer theoretical, the only question left is just how catastrophic it will be, it's almost certainly going to go extinct with or without our efforts to the contrary.

Less cute and cuddly but FAR MORE VITAL species need saving, and are much more saveable.

[-Ocelot-]

A planet without pandas is not a planet i want to live in.

Our planet is nearly panda-free. Existing pandas are fewer than a statistical error compared to the entirety of Earth's fauna.

[Ifreann]

And was there an epidemic that struck bamboo plants lately? Or a volcanic eruption in China?

Not lately, but a few centuries ago, some theorize this virus spread rapidly throughout China, explaining the seemingly mysterious disappearance of large swaths of bamboo forest as noted in Imperial Chinese records

So, pandas aren't going extinct because of a lack of bamboo.

[Cedoria]

Koalas aren't that different from bears, as myself and my fellow Aussies remarked upon when we last saw the latter.

Panda mannerisms are actually scarily similar to Koalas in and of themselves.

You’re talking about a marsupial the size of a toddler against a giant panda

Larger organisms need more energy to survive

And we humans are one of those larger organisms as well.

If we apply the standard to creatures who are of 'no use', we shouldn't be hypocrites and we should apply it to ourselves as well.

That's not to say Panda conservation couldn't be changed and improved, but letting living creatures die cause 'we don't give a shit' is kinda crappy. And yes, I know, they cost conservation dollars, but the point of conservation is to spend money on animals and plants to y'know, conserve them. Seems logical to spend a bit on species that would go extinct without it. Otherwise why bother conserving at all?

[Servilis]

they provide happy noises
which in turn creates more happy noises
pandas r cute

*happy noises*

[Cedoria]

Don’t hunt them, either.
Just let it happen.

No, I want to eat one.

And some days I want to eat you Liber Doesn't mean we should all get what we want:)

(Disclaimer: I am not a cannibal, this post is for ironic dramatization purposes only. Plus humans probably taste bad.)

[Servilis]

No, I want to eat one.

And some days I want to eat you Liber Doesn't mean we should all get what we want:)

(Disclaimer: I am not a cannibal, this post is for ironic dramatization purposes only. Plus humans probably taste bad.)

Well, humans only taste bad if you think lamb tastes bad.
I hate lamb.

Humans have a similar taste to lamb.

Disclaimer : Not a cannibal, this is just from the findings of some guy in the 1800s.

[Cedoria]

And some days I want to eat you Liber Doesn't mean we should all get what we want:)

(Disclaimer: I am not a cannibal, this post is for ironic dramatization purposes only. Plus humans probably taste bad.)

Well, humans only taste bad if you think lamb tastes bad.
I hate lamb.

Humans have a similar taste to lamb.

Disclaimer : Not a cannibal, this is just from the findings of some guy in the 1800s.

Was HE a cannibal? Dare I ask?

Sorry, off-topic, I'll can it with the food jokes now.

[Ifreann]

And some days I want to eat you Liber Doesn't mean we should all get what we want:)

(Disclaimer: I am not a cannibal, this post is for ironic dramatization purposes only. Plus humans probably taste bad.)

Well, humans only taste bad if you think lamb tastes bad.
I hate lamb.

Humans have a similar taste to lamb.

Disclaimer : Not a cannibal, this is just from the findings of some guy in the 1800s.

Pork. We taste like pork.

[Servilis]

Well, humans only taste bad if you think lamb tastes bad.
I hate lamb.

Humans have a similar taste to lamb.

Disclaimer : Not a cannibal, this is just from the findings of some guy in the 1800s.

Was HE a cannibal? Dare I ask?

Sorry, off-topic, I'll can it with the food jokes now.

He found an African cannibal tribe from West Africa, he got some human meat from them.
Went back to France, cooked it, ate it, described it as lamb.

[An Alan Smithee Nation]

If it's truly repentant.

[Kragholm Free States]

Was HE a cannibal? Dare I ask?

Sorry, off-topic, I'll can it with the food jokes now.

He found an African cannibal tribe from West Africa, he got some human meat from them.
Went back to France, cooked it, ate it, described it as lamb.

But that doesn't mean all humans taste like lamb, only humans with a diet consisting of other humans. A grass-fed vegan human would probably taste very different to that.

[Kowani]

No, I want to eat one.

And some days I want to eat you Liber Doesn't mean we should all get what we want:)

(Disclaimer: I am not a cannibal, this post is for ironic dramatization purposes only. Plus humans probably taste bad.)

Prion disease. Not great meat sources.

[Risottia]

Because they're fluffy

And contribute nothing to the environment

Neither do humans.

[Ethel mermania]

Well, humans only taste bad if you think lamb tastes bad.
I hate lamb.

Humans have a similar taste to lamb.

Disclaimer : Not a cannibal, this is just from the findings of some guy in the 1800s.

Pork. We taste like pork.

Long pork I believe is the term.

[San Lumen]

Yes pandas are cute and amazing creatures. All creatures have a right to exist on the planet. if humans weren't so cruel and didnt treat their habitats like a big annoyance pandas wouldnt be in this situation.

[Ors Might]

Eh. Clearly mama nature wants these fluffy bastards to die. Honestly the fact that they’ve lived this long at all is a stunning argument for the existence of a pamda god, rpobably going by the name of Jack black.

Yes pandas are cute and amazing creatures. All creatures have a right to exist on the planet. if humans weren't so cruel and didnt treat their habitats like a big annoyance pandas wouldnt be in this situation.

What evidence do you have that humans are the reason why the panda bear is endangered? You know species go extinct without human involvement, yeah?

[San Lumen]

Eh. Clearly mama nature wants these fluffy bastards to die. Honestly the fact that they’ve lived this long at all is a stunning argument for the existence of a pamda god, rpobably going by the name of Jack black.

Yes pandas are cute and amazing creatures. All creatures have a right to exist on the planet. if humans weren't so cruel and didnt treat their habitats like a big annoyance pandas wouldnt be in this situation.

What evidence do you have that human are the reason why the panda bear is endangered? You know species go extinct without human involvement, yeah?

Pandas and many other species largely have to do with humans treating them and their habitats like a big annoyance