They are cute and cuddly, but one wildlife expert argues that pandas should be left to go extinct.

    Pandas are the rarest bears in the world. The giant pandas at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C., have become local celebrities and draw about 3 million tourists a year.

    "The reason they need our help is that people are driving them to extinction. We are taking over their habitat, so we are the ones that have to help save them now," Brandie Smith, senior curator at the National Zoo, said.

    Packham says he does not want the pandas to die but argues they might not be worth saving.

    "But let's face it: Conservation, both nationally and globally, has a limited amount of resources, and I think we're going to have to make some hard, pragmatic choices," Packham told the U.K. newspaper the Guardian.

    The BBC host said while it is easy to raise money for something "fluffy," our money is better spent saving habitats, such as rain forests.

    "The truth is, pandas are extraordinarily expensive to keep going. We spend millions and millions of pounds on pretty much this one species, and a few others, when we know that the best thing we could do would be to look after the world's biodiversity hot spots with greater care," Packham told the Guardian.

    熊貓們很可愛，可愛到人們忍不住想要摟著它們。然而一位野生動物專家卻認為應該任由熊貓走向滅絕。

    熊貓是世界上最稀有的一種熊。在華盛頓的國家動物園里面，大熊貓已成為地方上的明星，每年都會吸引大約3000,000游客。

    國家動物園的資深管理員史密斯波頓說："正是因為人類促使大熊貓瀕臨滅絕，它們才需要我們的幫助。我們在改變熊貓的習性，因此我們就成了要去拯救他們的人。"

    派克漢姆說，他也不想熊貓滅絕，但是它們不值得人類去拯救。

    派克漢姆對英國衛士報說："但是讓我們面對現實：在國家和全球范圍內對自然環境的保護，擁有的資源有限，我認為我們將必須作出一些艱難而務實的選擇。"

    英國廣播公司主持人說，為"有絨毛的"東西（熊貓）籌錢很容易，我們的錢最好花在保留原有的棲息地上，例如雨林。

    派克漢姆對衛士報說："事實就是拯救大熊貓極其昂貴。我們知道，當我們知道我們能做的最有效的事情是細心照料這些維系著世界物種多樣性的熱門物種時，我們把千百萬英鎊差不多全花在這一個物種身上，還有少量其他的物種身上。"