Should we save the panda?

Giant pandas are charismatic, unique and endangered. Scientists, however, are divided over whether the money currently spent on their conservation is justified. You can cast your vote to the righthand side of this page.

On 15th October we held a debate on 'Do we need pandas? Choosing which species to save' with panellists Dr Mark Avery, Dr Sandy Knapp, Simon Watt and Dr Yan Wong.

If you missed the debate you can

Listen to the debate podcast

Join the discussion on our blog:
Is panda PR a good idea?
Should we save the panda?

Read the storify of tweets from the event

Read the write-up on BBC Nature

Read blog posts from Simon Watt and Yan Wong

Background

Giant pandas are the rarest member of the bear family, and live mainly in the mountains of western China. It is very likely that fewer than 2,500 pandas remain in the wild, and some estimates suggest as few as 1,000. The number has been declining, but it is hoped that conservation programmes are now making a difference.

The debate over whether our current attitude to the panda is misguided involves answering questions such as:

Has the panda attracted more conservation funding than its conservation has cost?

Have the improvements to its native bamboo forests been of sufficient benefit to other species to justify the resources spent on pandas?

Is the panda such a valuable species that we should do whatever it takes to save it?

Do our conservation efforts focus on large, charismatic species at the expense of many others which may be easier to save?