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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Mike Shurmer" data-source="post: 1598505" data-attributes="member: 74477">It is difficult to directly compare efforts to save the Giant Panda to those to resuccitate other species such as the Mauritius Kestrel, Black Stilt, Kakapo etc... The Mauritius Kestrel recovered from a handful of birds in the 1970s to over 200 in the 1990s. We have been trying to 'save the panda' for decades at a huge cost and how close are we to success? Because it is so difficult and we have so far to go does this mean we should stop spending millions of dollars. Have we invested too much already to stop?The problem is that we are not exactly rolling in money in conservation, and need to spend what we have wisely. Sure, it is far easier to raise money for sexy or cuddly flagship species, but in the harsh world of 21st century conservation I am afraid we need to get value for money. From an avian perspective if you look at the progress the Albatross Task Force has been making, for example, you can see real tangible successes in reducing bycatch. Some intiatives however do seem to be a waste of money. The IBW debacle is a case in point.I applaud Chris for putting himself in the firing line and making comments that many will disagree with. I do not agree with everything he says, but think that his point about how we spend our limited resources on fire fighting for wildlife is one we need to look at very seriously.</blockquote>