Predation and extinction

The day went relatively well. Though still groggy from 3 hours of sleep only but you somehow pick yourself up when you enter the class.

Lessons went well today. Various energy levels in each class but on the whole we moved along fairly well. Ecology is a pet subject, so I was not worried about lack of examples on a good day.

Of course your day is made with questions like this, "If you were an ecologist, and you know that is species is going to be extinct due to natural predation, would you take steps to save it?"

Truth to be said, I do not have a direct answer. This is an age long debate on whether how much meddling with nature is tolerated. Since it is a natural process, should we sit by and watch the extinction of a species?

But if you probe deeper, you will ask yourself, why is there an excess of predators to prey in the first place? What happened to upset this balance? Is it a natural cause or a man-made cause?

So this question may require at least 10 minutes of discussion. And can be answered at various levels, addressing proximal and ultimate causative factors.

I love lessons like this.