🚫🐼Pandas: Should we just let them die?

It’s hard to argue against pandas: They’re roly-poly, peaceful, and passionately committed to snacking. They bring in bank for zoos and generate hours of [endless free entertainment online](. Counterpoint: It’s easy. To put it bluntly, they suck at eating and reproducing, which are hands down the two most important skills a species needs. At a time when many animals are in serious jeopardy, why are we trying so hard to keep pandas alive? This question inspired a passionate debate among the Quartz science team, so we decided to have a giant panda battle royale. It’s a superficially silly exercise that could actually tell us something about the larger questions of conservation. 🐦 [Tweet this]( 🌐 [View this email on the web]( [Quartz Obsession] Pandas June 28, 2018 Not so black and white --------------------------------------------------------------- It’s hard to argue against pandas: They’re roly-poly, peaceful, and passionately committed to snacking. They bring in bank for zoos and generate hours of [endless free entertainment online](. Counterpoint: It’s easy. To put it bluntly, they suck at eating and reproducing, which are hands down the two most important skills a species needs. At a time when many animals are in serious jeopardy, why are we trying so hard to keep pandas alive? This question inspired a passionate debate among the Quartz science team, so we decided to have a giant panda battle royale. It’s a superficially silly exercise that could actually tell us something about the larger questions of conservation. 🐦 [Tweet this]( 🌐 [View this email on the web]( By the digits [40:]( Pounds of bamboo a panda eats daily [12:]( Hours a panda spends eating each day [30:]( Maximum lifespan of pandas in captivity [20:]( Maximum lifespan of pandas in the wild [2016:]( Year the International Union for Conservation of Nature [declassified]( pandas from “endangered” to “vulnerable”—the same category as [polar bears and white sharks]( [2,500:]( Approximate number of pandas currently loafing around the planet [22,000:]( Age of the oldest known panda skull, found in a cave in southern China. According to a [new DNA analysis]( the modern panda split from an ancestor about 138,000 years ago. AP Photo/Charles Tasnadi 🐼Point Pandas are bad at making more pandas --------------------------------------------------------------- Quartz science reporter Katherine Ellen Foley: Pandas in the wild have a mating ritual that goes on for weeks, despite the fact that females are only fertile a few days per year. As [Live Science reports]( this coital precursor involves a bunch of male pandas fighting for a single female hanging out in a tree until she’s ready to come down. She then has to take a bit of a leadership role to position herself to be inseminated because—harsh but true—male pandas have some of the animal kingdom’s smallest penises relative to their body size. Obviously, difficulty breeding is not necessarily all the pandas’ fault. Humans have made it harder for pandas to get it on by fragmenting their natural habitats with [road construction, deforestation]( and the effects of climate change. In captivity, pandas definitely have a hard time mating, where females frequently reject males, perhaps because they don’t have a chance to prove their worth in battle. Even if a panda does manage to get pregnant, she normally has only one cub at a time, which emerges from the womb weighing less than a pound—one of the smallest offspring compared to parent size of any mammal. It’s not uncommon for vulnerable [panda cubs to die]( when they’re very young. 🐼Counterpoint But, pandas are the best! --------------------------------------------------------------- Quartz philosophy and science reporter Olivia Goldhill: Pandas make the most convincing case for their existence simply by being adorable. Yes, they might get more conservation money than some other, less cute animals, and perhaps that isn’t entirely fair. But pandas are worth preserving, even with the high costs of their medical care. They’re more than just a pretty face, playing an essential ecological role by distributing bamboo seeds throughout the forest. Plus, as [Popular Science points out,]( they act a bit like the British royal family of the animal kingdom, attracting tourism money to zoos and interest in animal welfare. Most importantly, these tubby, furry creatures exude playfulness and bring joy to all but the coldest of hearts. Some things are worth preserving not for any utilitarian reason, but because they’re intrinsically wonderful. Anyone with a soul would mourn the day these beautiful creatures die out, and rightly so. Now, I’ll let pandas have the final word: [obs panda rolling](Giphy) Fun fact! A group of pandas is (sometimes) called an [embarrassment](. Giphy 🐼Let's revisit a point Did we mention pandas can't eat? --------------------------------------------------------------- Science editor Elijah Wolfson: Let’s be clear: Pandas are dumb. Panda bears are [omnivores who are basically carnivores, biologically speaking](. And yet, for some reason, they have decided not to eat meat and consume only bamboo. To make matters worse, they can’t actually survive by eating normal amounts of bamboo. Because their stomachs aren’t designed to digest plants, pandas get almost no nutrients out of bamboo before it passes through their systems as waste. So pandas have to eat tons and tons of the plant just to stay alive—so much bamboo that humans have to go out and plant extra bamboo for them to eat cause they’ve already housed everything that grows naturally. Toads, newts, and frogs; many, many birds far smaller than a bear; field mice, shrews, squirrels, voles, hares, moles, weasels, monkeys, and civets; and snakes, turtles, and fish also live in pandas’ habitat. And yet pandas choose not to eat any of those things. As a result, they can’t get the nutrients they need unless we feed them. That’s unique for undomesticated species. AP Photo/Vincent Thian pop quiz The giant panda's scientific name, Ailuropoda melanoleuca, means: Wide and roundBlack and white cat-footDubious survival skillsBamboo piglet Correct. Incorrect. If your inbox doesn’t support this quiz, find the solution at bottom of email. Reuters/Gleb Garanich 🐼Another point! Pandas are pricey propaganda --------------------------------------------------------------- Foley: At this point, pandas are mostly just a [symbol of diplomacy]( and goodwill between China and the foreign countries that keep pandas in their zoos. That political gesture doesn’t come cheap: Pandas cost zoos [roughly $1 million per year to rent from China, plus a one-time tax on each baby born,]( plus specialized medical care for the entirety of their 20 to 30 years on the planet. This usually adds up to [millions of dollars per year]( depending on the zoo’s location. Although zoos tend to profit from having pandas thanks to increased attendance and merchandise sales, it doesn’t always seem like pandas thrive there. Similar to [white sharks]( pandas prefer an open environment where they can roam freely. Even the biggest enclosures cause them to [get a little wacky](. Wolfson: I think Olivia is right to draw the connection between pandas and the UK royal family. Both serve as propaganda designed to uphold an ideal of their respective governments, and both end up costing the taxpayers in those countries a fortune. In the UK, the [annual cost of the monarchy]( is £345 million ($457 million). That said, compared to royals, pandas are a relative bargain. China committed $1.5 billion this past March to build a massive [panda bear sanctuary]( that’s more or less a one-time cost. Three years of Harry and Meghan, or decades of pandas? Maybe they don’t need to die, after all. 🤔 Lehtikuva/Tommi Anttonen via Reuters 🐼Point Pandas are attention hogs --------------------------------------------------------------- Wolfson: Have you ever heard of the [yellow-faced bee]( How about the [mangrove-dwelling crab]( Or the [snake-river salmon]( No? None of them? It might have something to do with the fact that none are even remotely as cuddly as the panda bear. And yet, these are three examples of animals that are not only endangered (that’s a more pressing classification than the panda’s current status), but, unlike the panda, are keystone animals for their ecosystems. That means we don’t lose just the bees and crabs and salmon—we lose the dozens of other animal and plant species that rely on them to survive. Reuters/Lucas Jackson 🐼One more point Let's talk about sea otters --------------------------------------------------------------- Wolfson: I am in full agreement with Olivia’s assertion that “some things are worth preserving not for any utilitarian reason, but because they’re intrinsically wonderful.” But what if you could have both? I submit to you that all of the world’s goodwill towards panda bears could very easily be shifted onto sea otters, which are equally adorable, but also serve an essential ecological purpose in their Pacific Ocean habitat. Animal conservation is not a zero-sum game in theory. But sadly, it is a zero-sum game in practice, because we only have so many resources to fund efforts. Given that reality, I think pandas should get to the back of the line, behind the yellow-faced bees, the mangrove-dwelling crabs, the snake-river salmon, the sea otter, the gopher tortoise, the tiger shark, the prairie dog, the ivory tree coral, and so many more. Reuters/Benoit Tessier red panda interlude For your cuteness consideration --------------------------------------------------------------- The original panda is the red panda: It was discovered decades before the giant panda. But the two don’t actually have much in common. Giant pandas are bears, but red pandas are in the [Ailuridae family]( which includes weasels, raccoons, and skunks. 🐼Counter-counter-point! Another case for conservation --------------------------------------------------------------- A study just published in Current Biology shows that the ground where pandas [tumble around]( does far more for the environment than the bears themselves. Conserving the giant panda’s natural habitat was worth roughly $2.6 billion in 2010—at least 10 times what we paid to preserve the species that year—according to the research. Meanwhile, it cost only $255 million to protect that land. This obvious benefit to preserving panda habitat should be enough to convince those “journalists [who] have suggested that it would be best to let the panda go extinct,” the authors write. Ahem. In all fairness to ourselves, journalists at [NPR]( [Gizmodo]( [Business Insider]( and [Slate]( have shared similar views. But make no mistake; we’re not mad at the study. The ecosystems around the globe combine to provide an estimated [$125 trillion]( worth of economic value, a contribution that often goes unrecognized. Humans have destroyed natural panda habitat directly via urban development, and indirectly through climate change. The forests that house pandas are undeniably great habitat for [all kinds of creatures]( including golden snub-nosed monkeys, takins, golden pheasants, and blue sheep—some of which are also endangered or vulnerable. So protect forest reservations in China! Add more, even! Just don’t do it for only those black and white doofuses. Reuters/Ginnette Riquelme Poll Should pandas stay or should they go? [Click here to vote]( Can't argue with evolutionIt's in our interest to preserve all species the fine print In yesterday’s poll, we asked if you want your banks to upgrade their [COBOL]( computer systems. It was a pretty close split—51% of you said “No, I haven’t paid for anything with cash since 2012,” while 49% said “Yes, I want a glitch to erase my student loan debt.” sound off ✏️ [What did you think of today’s email?](mailto:obsession%2Bfeedback@qz.com?cc=&subject=Thoughts%20about%20pandas.%20&body=) 💡 [What should we obsess over next?](mailto:obsession%2Bideas@qz.com?cc=&subject=Obsess%20over%20this%20next.&body=) 🐰 [What have you been obsessed with this week?](mailto:obsession%2Bprompt@qz.com?cc=&subject=Take%20us%20down%20a%20rabbit%20hole.%20&body=) 📬 [Forward this email to a friend](mailto:replace_with_friends_email@qz.com?cc=obsession%2Bforward@qz.com&subject=%F0%9F%9A%AB%F0%9F%90%BCPandas%3A%20Should%20we%20let%20them%20die%3F&body=Thought%20you%27d%20enjoy.%20%0ARead%20it%20here%20http%3A%2F%2Fqz.com%2Femail%2Fquartz-obsession%2F1314650%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%0AHave%20you%20heard%20of%20the%20Quartz%20Obsession%3F%20It%27s%20the%20best%20thing%20I%20get%20in%20my%20inbox%20every%20day%E2%80%94a%20deep%20dive%20into%20topics%20like%20LaCroix%2C%20Post-its%2C%20bitcoin%20mines%20and%20so%20much%20more.%0A%0ASign%20up%20here%20(so%20we%27ll%20never%20run%20out%20of%20things%20to%20talk%20about%20%F0%9F%98%89)%20--%3E%20https%3A%2F%2Fqz.com%2Fnewsletters%2Fquartz-obsession%2F) 😍 KEEP OBSESSING Revisit the Quartz Obsession on: 🐟 [Sharks]( 🐯 [White tigers]( 🌱 [Algae]( The correct answer to the quiz is Black and white cat-foot. 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