Re: NANFA-- Re: TRADING POST

Shireen Gonzaga (whimbrel_at_home.com)
Wed, 03 Nov 1999 20:40:32 -0500

mcclurg luke e <mcclurgl_at_washburn.edu>
> You are absolutely right that the key is habitat restoration.
> These species must have a place to live in the wild. I don't think we
> will ever return some to their full range, but we can re-establish SOME
> range for them. But what to do in the interim? Captive propagation is
> still in my honest opinion the best way to save some crittically
> endangereed species...

You mean return captive propagated species to the wild?
Like in artifical selection, y'know, the opposite of
*natural* selection?

These fish are the product of millions of years of evolution
through natural selection. Why mess with that? After all, who
are we to play "God?"

> ...case in point, the California Condor...but that is
> an extreme case.

Too late. They'll be joining the Eskimo Curlew and Passenger
Pigeon in a dusty Smithsonian display case--it's just a matter
of time. Humans have undone in a few decades what nature took
millions of years to nuture. I guess running to the rescue of
the C. Condor gives people a warm fuzzy feeling. I can't think
of any other reason why this species is being saved.

Gotta go. I feel the urge to swing from a tree ...

shireen

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