Pandas: do we need 'em?

I have just been reading about the Radio Times interview with Springwatch presenter Chris Packham - self-styled 'Pol Pot of conservation' - and his suggestion that giant pandas are a waste of money and we should allow them to go the way of the dodo.

It's not cute, it's a biological aberration

He says:

"Here's a species that of its own accord has gone down an evolutionary cul-de-sac. It's not a strong species.

"I reckon we should pull the plug. Let them go with a degree of dignity."

This is a...