“It is to be expected that people will question how conservation can be aided by allowing animals to be killed and utilized,” said Eugene Lapointe.

Lapointe is the former president of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, which is recommending that the best way to conserve some endangered species is a practice termed “sustainable use.” This euphemistic term applies to the practice of allowing animals on the Endangered Species List to be hunted, with the resulting profits feeding into the economies of nearby communities.

Many people have been doing just as Lapointe expected, and questioning how it could be possible that killing an animal would be beneficial for the survival of its species.

However, even the most skeptical have found validity behind his reasoning. When students were asked their opinions on the issue, they replied with a wide range of responses.

Sophomore Morgan Dumitru said, “I would, in general, agree with the theory supported by Eugene Lapointe, in that I believe a blanket ban on the extraction of a renewable resource rarely provides the desired results.”

A crucial aspect of Lapointe’s argument involves the creation of a white market for animal parts.

“If you can enforce a regulated price, you can dictate demand for the product, and thus, consumption. By banning totally, the market will be driven underground, and will be much more difficult to regulate. Of course, with any valuable resource, there will be a black market, but it only becomes larger if there is no white market,” said Dumitru.

If such a plan were made legal to implement, it would be crucial to assess each species individually before deciding whether it would actually help the species in question.

“This applies best, of course to the protection of endangered species that are directly threatened by hunting, fishing, etc. Other species, such as the spotted owl, which aren’t actively hunted, would require a different type of regulation than, say, elephants. In theory, though, it works no matter which animal or resource you’re seeking to conserve,” said Dumitru.

However, concerns remain over the effect this plan could have on the animals it’s trying to protect. A prominent example is the gray wolf, whose status on the endangered species list has changed several times recently.

“As soon as [the gray wolves] were removed, hunting them became legal. There is brutal aerial hunting in places like Alaska where wolves are chased by helicopters and shot at from the air,” said first-year Clara Easter.

In opposition to sustainable use are those who say that the only effective way of protecting endangered species are complete hunting bans.

“I think that hunting bans are incredibly important, even though there are still poaching problems all over the world. Species are able to bounce back if they are heavily protected,” said Easter.

Though sustainable use has yet to become legal, it is being seriously considered in areas where the current bans on hunting are failing to be effective. However, the idea of killing endangered species remains hard to swallow for critics.