Endangered Species: What Exactly Is Their Value?

Each year on our planet, thousands of species face the threat of extinction. 

As we lose species, we lose biodiversity in our ecosystems, which leads to a plethora of environmental and economical setbacks. While some species benefit tourism, others provide medical benefits or other goods. Value can be measured by an individual's willingness to pay for the resource, or the willingness to accept the loss of that resource. In the case of an endangered species, the contingent valuation method would be the appropriate approach. The contingent valuation method uses open-ended questions, dichotomous choice methods, payment cards, or bidding games. The payment card method provides values on cards, and participants are asked which values are close to what they are willing to pay. When the bidding games method is used, individuals are provided sequential values in ascending order until a value is rejected, or descending order until a value is accepted.


Let's take a look at an endangered species here in Colorado, the lynx. (Sigh... those tufts though, amiright?) To determine what I would pay to preserve this species, I employed the dichotomous choice method. This simple method provides an individual with a value that can either be accepted or rejected. Personally, I would spend about fifty dollars a month to save this species. I chose this number because it's a small amount in the scheme of things, but a significant amount if everyone gave fifty dollars. If I were to be paid for the loss of the species, I would want to be paid double what I would pay, so that I could contribute the money back into the cause for endangered species. This would not only compensate me for the loss, but also allow me to prevent loss of species in the future.

While there are many ways to determine the value of a resource, each method has it's strengths and weaknesses. Contingent valuation studies are rather simple to conduct, and can provide data on species in which value can be difficult to determine. However, the contingent valuation studies also have many downfalls. If the situation is not taken seriously, hypothetical bias can occur, and results of the study are inaccurate. With such a study, it is important to be sure each individual understands that while the study is, in fact, hypothetical, it is also to be viewed as a reality. Strategic bias is also a concern, as the results of the study can be skewed depending on whether the respondent is for or against a policy. There are a number of other biases to be weary of in contingent valuation studies, such as information bias, interviewer bias, self-selection bias, and payment vehicle bias, just to name a few. It is important to consider all of these factors when determining the value of a resource. These studies are extremely important in the recovery and preservation of our ecosystems.

It makes me wonder what type of methods are used to determine the outcome of topics such as the legalization of a market for rhino horns. Or, more recently, what was the process that led Trump to consider lifting the ban on elephant trophies? Sure, creating a legal market for these things will lead to an increase in tourism, bragging rights, and trophies, but at what cost? Both elephants and rhinos are keystone species, and to endanger them will have catastrophic consequences. Tourism revenue might go up, but once these species have been hunted out, there's no doubt that tourism revenue will then plummet, because nobody wants to go on vacation to visit a ruined landscape. Personally, I think rhinos and elephants should be left alone by humans, just as they don't disturb us. I mean, can you imagine a world where Robbie Rhino returns from a hunting trip with a human head to mount over his fireplace? If we were the ones being hunted, we wouldn't think trophy markets were such a hot idea.

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