Conservation | National Geographic Society

The purpose of this discussion is to think deeper about saving species and if all species should be equally saved. Learning Objectives Debate on which species have the inherent right to survive without human interference. Assignment Directions Answer the following questions. Do you accept the ethical position that each species has the inherent right to survive without human interference, regardless of whether it serves any useful purpose for humans? Explain. Would you extend this right to the Anopheles mosquito, which transmits malaria, and to harmful infectious bacteria? Explain. If your answer is no, where would you draw the line?

Running head: CONSERVATION AND PROTECTION OF ALL LIVING THINGS 1
Conservation and Protection of All Living Things
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CONSERVATION AND PROTECTION OF ALL LIVING THINGS 2
Conservation and Protection of All Living Things
All living things regardless of their usefulness to human beings play a vital role in their
respective eco-systems. As such, the elimination of one species because of its inconvenience to
human beings (for example, the malaria causing Anopheles Mosquito) will results in
catastrophic environmental consequences (Ruggiero, et al., 2015). For example, in some wildlife
conservation parks and most rural parts in North America the number of predators like mountain
lions, wolves, and bears have been reduced drastically by farmers, hunters, and eradication
programs to the point that herbivorous animals like deer are considered “pests” at given times of
the yea (Ruggiero, et al., 2015). This imbalance in the predator to prey ratio results in
overgrazing and destruction of young plants. As such, major forests are able to recover from wild
fires because the budding trees are consumed by multitudes of prey species.
Inherently, all living things have the right to life; and as such, they are afforded
protection through legal provisions in the constitutions of different country. However, priority is
given to endangered species as opposed to invasive and harmful species (Pysek & Richardson,
2010). Governments across the world dedicate a lot of resources to protect endangered species
from extinction and illegal hunting. The same privileges are not extended to invasive species like
the reticulated pythons that have taken over the Everglades in Florida. The invasive species are
killed off because they pose a threat to the lives of local/native species. However, these evasive
species are protected in their natural habits (Pysek & Richardson, 2010).
Harmful bacteria and insects are also protected by human laws because of their role in the
environment and the bio-sphere as a whole. For instance, the Anopheles Mosquito has three roles
in the eco--system prey, predator, and competitor: Its elimination would result in an imbalance
that could affect fish, bird, and frog populations in given parts o the world.

CONSERVATION AND PROTECTION OF ALL LIVING THINGS 3
References
Pysek, P., & Richardson, D. M. (2010). Invasive Species, Environmental Change and
Management, and Health. Annual Review of Environment and Resources, 25-55.
Ruggiero, M. A., Gordon, D. P., Orrell, T. M., Bailly, N., Bourgoin, T., Brusca, R. C., . . . Kirk,
P. (2015). A Higher Level Classification of All Living Organisms. PLoS ONE , 1-60.