Are pandas a waste of time and money?

Editorial writer for Bloomberg news, Timothy Lavin, walked into a market Wednesday afternoon and was immediately asked by a stranger, “Have you no soul?”

The reason? Lavin recently published a piece titled, “Why I Hate Pandas and You Should Too.”

Lavin is arguing that the money, time, and effort going into saving pandas is a waste of money. He says they should go extinct because they are simply evolutionary failures.

“It’s really shocking because on YouTube and around the Internet, pandas rule,” says KIRO Radio co-host Libby Denkmann.

However, Lavin calls pandas a hopeless and wasteful species. He thinks the world should have given up a long time ago.

Yes, pandas spend half their time eating and they do their business at least a dozen times a day. However, they have always been a popular zoo attraction and they’re a national symbol for China.

“We spend a million dollars per panda to keep them in American zoos. It’s just not worth it,” adds Lavin.

The World Wildlife Federation, which also uses the panda for its symbol, reminds people that conservation is important everywhere.

“Some might say it’s a panda bear’s world and we are all just living in it,” says Libby.

“I say that all the time,” agrees KIRO Radio host Andrew Walsh.

Report by MyNorthwest.com intern Hannah Kadletz