Pandering

I must admit to being broadly in agreement with the view that pandas are over-invested in as conservation entities (http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/aug/09/unthinkable-stuff-the-pandas?INTCMP=SRCH). These bamboo-eating, breakers of wind are treated with great reverence (see the summer obsessions with the possible pregnancy of the Edinburgh Zoo Great panda) but 'cuteness' (real or imagined) should not be a major criterion for directing limited aid to them. I suppose that part of the problem is that they are the flagship species of the WWF and nobody likes to see a flagship go down with all hands.