Which species SHOULD be conserved? Which species should have the priority in conservation and Why?

Question

The 8th in a series of 30 questions on Nature and the Environment which I'll ask in these sections: Religion & Spirituality and Philosophy (first 5 questions only), Society & Culture, Environment, and Politics & Government. I will post them in the US, UK, Singapore and India Y!A sites.

Here are links to the first 7:

1. http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AgaUqX9ltAXnCLmj8bTrHbvty6IX;_ylv=3?qid=20080214064914AAwlhTE

2. http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=ApfAHYXVrJJtNSPRxR1ytvPty6IX;_ylv=3?qid=20080214150756AAPzAmY

3. http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AmKegVFLeo1HGLIvQ01voYrty6IX;_ylv=3?qid=20080215073509AAujVHd

4. http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AsgX5yPW9othq1g_YcA4ri7ty6IX;_ylv=3?qid=20080216100407AANkamn

5. http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AgaUqX9ltAXnCLmj8bTrHbvty6IX;_ylv=3?qid=20080217131044AAN7KdI

6. http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=Askz86tKZJf_uGt.TvLSqHLty6IX;_ylv=3?qid=20080219112102AAK2o54

Answer 1

Endangered spieces should have priority.

Answer 2

I really don't know.

Answer 3

who are we to decide, survival of the fittest an all-see the redlist it has all the endangered, threatened and vulnerable species all over the globe (well the ones we know about anyhow)

Answer 4

All species should be conserved. The way they decide which ones have priority is according to their numbers in the wild and how successful they are at reproducing (e.g pandas only produce 1 baby at a time so are not very successful so need more help to keep their numbers up)

Answer 5

All species should be CONserved. Conservation means "wise use". Not all species should be PREserved, which may be what you are thinking about. For example, smallpox has been wiped out in the wild. I, for one, am glad about that. That is conservation without preservation.

Answer 6

All species should be conserved as they all play a significant role in the ecosystem and food chain. If all the species in the bottom of the food chain, for example insects, were to be killed, initially the species at the top of the food chain, such as lions, would die. I am not saying lions eat insects, but whatever the lions consume which may eat insects would die, therefore the lions will not have anything to eat. Also, if you kill the species at the top of the food chain, such as the fox, there will be a growth spurt in rabbits since they do not really have any threats. The rabbits would then eat all the grass, before there would be no more for them to consume and they would die as well. As you can see, all species play  a significant role in the environment and it is therefore important that all are conserved. However, species which are facing extinction should be saved first.