" I don't want to sound pessimistic, or cast aspersions on an ethnic group, > but my son works in east Asia and says that in terms of the mindset there > we can forget about preserving endangered species so long as one person > with enough money believes the last living individual will convey some > traditional benefit that he (paternalistic societies here) wants." In other words, we are the cause of the demise of many species by supporting with our money the collecting of rare species for sale. And they even claim they sell rare unique species that grow in a single hill and even so we keep on supporting them.