Should We Let the Orangutan Become Extinct?

Please don’t e-mail me to call me crazy. I just wonder about the whole notion of "conservation." In Saving Sumatra’s Wild Orangutans (NPR, 8/7/06), Michael Sullivan writes that people in Sumatra see orangutans as "pests, or pets–something to be controlled or gotten rid of, but not protected." The trees they call home are being wiped out to make way for the planting of rice and corn to feed the every-increasing population.

Later, he says: "When orangutans live close to humans, they tend to become dependent on the food the tourists give them. They become bold and aggressive."

Stop me when this sounds familiar.

Here’s my question: Why is it that we believe the nonhuman population is ours to manage? Don’t you think we should try successfully managing ourselves first, before branching out to other species?

Let’s deconstruct the orangutan situation, which is similar to the alligator situation, and so many (but not all) others:

• Humans hunt and poach some creature to near extinction.
• Oh no! we cry. We can’t let the poor orangutan/alligator/whositswhatsis go extinct! We’ve got to do something about this tragic disturbance of the delicate balance of the planet!
• We spend millions of taxpayer and private dollars on captive breeding programs, among other things, hoping to restore the balance.
• A couple of decades later, we’ve got tons of orangutans/alligators/whositswhatsises.
• We must sell (even more) licenses to hunt and kill them to manage the populations.

Now, here comes the really dicey question: What’s wrong with a species going extinct? The delicate-balance-of-the-ecosystem argument is nonsense, as it’s so far out of balance already.

• We create Labradoodles and other creatures that don’t naturally exist all the time.
• We have created a crisis of epic proportions with cats and dogs.
• We torture animals for food and clothing by the billions.
• Americans consume a greater percentage of resources on this planet than anyone else.
• And, not to change the subject, but: GLOBAL WARMING.

How is the extinction of the orangutan so tragic? And if it is, maybe we deserve it, because it’s a consequence of our behavior.