IS IT time to let some threatened species go extinct? The heretical notion is worthy of consideration, says a majority of conservationists contacted in a poll.
Of 583 questioned, 60 per cent agreed that criteria should be established for deciding which species to abandon in order to focus on saving others (Conservation Biology, ). of the University of York, UK, who ran the survey, says the subject has been somewhat taboo until recently. Most large conservation organisations, he adds, already have checklists for prioritising their efforts.
We will inevitably lose species, says Jean-Christophe Vi茅 of the in Geneva, Switzerland. 鈥淏ut there will be disagreement about priorities. We can鈥檛 save all 17,000 species under threat, so we must choose, and that depends on many parameters.鈥�
Advertisement
Making that choice will not be straightforward. As Rudd puts it: 鈥淪hould it be how unique a species is genetically, how useful it is economically, or whether lots of species can be saved at once?鈥�
聯We can鈥檛 save all species under threat, so we must choose, and that won鈥檛 be straightforward聰
