@MouseAndShiraz
Just a thought: As a species ourselves, we are willing to spend billions every year globally preserving world heritage sites, historical structures, and works of art. I feel like us going out of our way to preserve something like the panda isn't so much about saving a species for the sake of the ecosystem but as a kind of 'world heritage species.' The panda isn't a site, but it is an icon, a symbol, and a treasured 'thing' around the world that people feel adequately sentimental about to keep the species alive, even though it will probably never fit back into the ecosystem again. It is an act of sentiment, not rationality. I don't feel like the panda actually fits into the overall wildlife conservation movement, for the above reasons. We might as well be preserving the Colosseum, it is an act which simultaneously shows respect, admiration, and our reluctance to let go. It's not necessarily rational. What it is, however, is distinctly human. I feel like sentimentality is one of humanity's more endearing qualities, so I am content to let it be.
@billyfox6368
I think that we should focus on the endangered species who're most vital to their ecosystems because their dying out would do the most damage.
@averageboi5195
I can imagine a wild life officer saying to a 2 panda “screw each other already”
@AndrewDerpfaceC
Otters are cute and they are vital to ecosystems. Win-Win.
@CSGhostAnimation
before video: Of course not! Nothing should go extinct after video: THANOS BE HITTIN'
@mrburgermaster
There's a plethora of organisms I'd work towards saving before pandas.
@Darksagan
Saving a species based on cuteness is so damn human.
@3nu570
Let`s just save the bees. Without bees everybody dies.
@accursedcursive4935
Ignoring pandas for a while may ironically help them, a genetic bottleneck is exactly what pandas need. Their picky eating and breeding is why they're nearly extinct, and trying to save them liberates them from suffering from their own flaws which means that less picky individuals who could make the species viable again don't enjoy the benefits of natural selection.
@Suedocode
Save the trees, save the bees, save the whales, and save those snails!
@hlalakar4156
When a species loses interest in sex, it's time to let it go. That's the species level equivalent of being in a persistent vegetative state.
@kirby9901
If pandas went extinct, I dont think I could watch Kung Fu Panda the same anymore...
@Verlarn
I've anyways thought this, but felt like I was in the minority because everyone gushes over pandas. Yeah, they're cute. But in the game scheme of things, there's more important species to focus on.
@-comment
Damn pandas. Falling off mountains after trying to get really high up growing bamboo plants.
@alex_alr1ght
This video actually inspired me to do a project on this. Research was fun but with how we choose who lives or die with cuteness is Absolutely crazy and irrational.
@timothymclean
... Did you write this entire episode just for that pun at the end?
@LpsAreEpic
I like pandas and all but we also need to support other animals...
@onyxtay7246
My favorite quote about animals is from Brad Stine. (and I realize it isn't exactly about animals going extinct, but it is about the way people tend to help the cute animals.) " 'Oh no! Dolphins are getting caught in the tuna net. Dolphins are getting caught in the tuna net!' Yeah? What about the tuna getting caught in the tuna net? They aren't crazy about it, but tuna are fish, and fish are ugly. These people never chain themselves to a dock 'Be kind to carp.' Never happens."
@FOLIPE
Yes, I can, I've never seen a panda and my great-grandparents didn't know bears existed, much less pandas, and they did just fine.
@TamTroll