Species Conservation

[anggrek@juno.com (Tsuh Yang Chen)]

i know some people are tired of this thread but i wanted to comment on a
few things.  

when i said that everybody in the third world wanted the same as we do (2
cars, 2 vcr's, 3 tv's, 2 microwaves etc.)  i didn't mean that we should
all have that, but it was a comment on how wasteful and materialistic all
lives are becoming, and how that greatly impacts on the environment.  i
think that recycling is not enough, reducing our superfluous needs and
wants is crucial for our own survival in the long run.

and i disagree with doug's pessimism, i don't think that madagascan fish
extinction, for example, is imminent.  a lot can still be done.  sure,
the environment in madagascar and around the world needs to be protected,
not only isolated species.  but nature can be more resilient than we
think.  there are a lot of animals that scientists have given up as
extinct but that sometimes later are found to have survived in some
remote area.  that has happened many times this century and there are
still some animals officially deemed extinct but who may not be: there
have been a few signs that the thylacine or tasmanian wolf (a carnivorous
marsupial in tasmania) might still be around.  and some still hold out
hope that the paradise parakeet still lives in some remote area in
australia.  just recently, 3 new species of hoofed mammals (including a
new genus!) were discovered in vietnam and 1 wild horse was rediscovered
in tibet.  there is so much that we still don't know about the large
world we live in.  and if isolated fish populations are saved, even if
only in captivity, there is always the hope of reintroduction in the
wild, once the environment is cleaned up or restored (as with the
californian condor, which while not a total success, is being slowly
reintroduced in the wild).

and contrary to the view that all people in the third world are actively
destroying and burning down the rainforests, many are very aware that the
destruction of the environment means their own extinction.  witness the
struggle of ecuadorian indians against american oil companies, brazilian
rubber-tappers unionizing efforts in order to save the amazon from
cattle-ranchers and mining companies, forest-dwellers in new guinea and
borneo fighting against loggers etc.  often times, it's a struggle of
david against goliath and if we can ally ourselves with the davids around
the world, we might still save some patch of green for the future.  like
doug said, we won't save it all, but i do believe that we should try to
save as much as we can.

alright, enough preaching, i'll go back to lurking now.

tsuh yang chen, new york city (where i just saw at a famous chainstore 3
different species of apisto in one tank, all male, sold under "agassizi"
but none actually were)