Guinea Worm Is Set to Be the Second Disease We’ve Ever Managed to Eradicate

Better to call this the nth intentional pest elimination, then.

Humans have, by our presence, drastically altered a variety of ecosystems in ways that can't be undone. In the case of the Condor parasites, it's unclear, but it's possible that if the mites and lice had been left alive that would have been the difference that drove the condors extinct. A non-intervention approach might have extincted all three species.

A more extreme example: in the Galapagos, human-introduced flies have been killing the finches that inspired Darwin. A non-intervention approach is arguably the most natural, but this would likely cause the finches to go extinct. Intervening to kill the flies might save the finches, but it also involves ecosystem changes to kill the flies and interaction with the finches that demonstrably has already modified their behaviors. Ultimately, returning the finches to their original state is not an option, so any course conservation takes will result in an ecosystem that differs from what Darwin observed.

Given we can't undo the changes we've already made, it makes sense to make these kinds of choices based on human factors. It makes sense to choose majestic condors over lice and mites, historically valuable finches survival over their unmodified behavior, human health over guinea worms, and human health over malaria and the mosquito populations that carry it. Extinction of mosquitoes in particular has far-reaching ecological effects which we should strive to understand and mitigate, but I doubt that any of those effects will be more compelling to me than the suffering caused by malaria.

A pragmatic view of conservation realizes that change is inevitable, and the best we can do is push that change in positive directions, and further, that "positive" is subjective.

"Religious Opposition to Polio Vaccination," Emerg Infect Dis. 2009 Jun; 15(6): 978. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2727330/

is quite helpful. Significantly, it was published two years before Osama Bin Laden's compound was discovered and he died.

While all of us (for any reasonable definition of all of us) are happy to see small pox, guinea worm, malaria, ebola, and now zika, wiped out in the name of advancing humanity, it's pretty clear there is a greater divide when it comes to lions, owls, and tortoises.

And, before you say, "Well, the owl/tortoise only have financial impact" remember that $$$ can be easily translated into lives simply by dialing up safety standards/inspections/health care/etc... With incredible returns in the third world, and, even some low hanging fruit in the first world as well.

What does it mean to put other species above humans? Does it mean human economic activity is more important than other species? Because that means that we should just let China kill all the rhinos for their horns. If not, that means some people will die, because economic activity is a matter of life or death for many.