# Three drunken idiots may have killed endangered fish **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 16, 2016, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-drunken-idiots-may-have-killed-endangered-fish/754932 "2016-05-16T20:10:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2016, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-drunken-idiots-may-have-killed-endangered-fish/754932/1 "2016-05-16T20:10:58Z")
[Three drunken idiots trashed a heavily protected conservation site](https://www.yahoo.com/news/police-arrest-3-men-allegedly-175100282.html) There were only 115 Devils Hole pupfish alive in the world last April. They live only in Devils Hole in Death Valley. On 30 April a trio of drunken yahoos shot the locks off the security fence, trod through the water where the pupfish live, and left a pair of soiled underwear in the water. One pupfish was found dead, and an examination revealed that the fish had died within two days of its discovery, meaning it’s possible it was killed by the intruders. _Wired_ also has [an article](http://www.wired.com/2016/05/devils-hole-pupfish-just-cant-catch-break/). The Yahoo link at the top of this post has video. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2016, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-drunken-idiots-may-have-killed-endangered-fish/754932/2 "2016-05-16T20:13:10Z")
Wow, I guessed the right fish, but I was guessing it would be at the Las Vegas casino that has some of them in an aquarium (which may serve to repopulate the hole if all of them die there.) ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2016, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-drunken-idiots-may-have-killed-endangered-fish/754932/3 "2016-05-16T20:16:20Z")
Ambiguous clause detected in article: > [@](#): > > Groundwater extraction has, in the past, threatened the long-term viability of the pupfish, and the Supreme Court ruled in 1976 that pumping operations **must cease to preserve the species** , according to L.A.ist. The Supreme Court ruled that we must not preserve the species :eek: ---
**Author:** ![drachillix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/48db29/32.png) [@drachillix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drachillix)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2016, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-drunken-idiots-may-have-killed-endangered-fish/754932/4 "2016-05-16T20:20:30Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > Ambiguous clause detected in article: > > The Supreme Court ruled that we must not preserve the species :eek: #commasmatter ---
**Author:** ![GusNSpot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gusnspot/32/436_2.png) [@GusNSpot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GusNSpot)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2016, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-drunken-idiots-may-have-killed-endangered-fish/754932/5 "2016-05-17T01:14:32Z")
The wife & kids and I stopped there before it was a ‘thing’ and all the fencing & stuff was done. We could go right to the water’s edge. No parking, no pavement within miles and just a sign. Many people are just plain no good. Was a most interesting thing to be out in the desert like that and have it just ‘be there.’ ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2016, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-drunken-idiots-may-have-killed-endangered-fish/754932/6 "2016-05-17T01:42:21Z")
> [@drachillix](#): > > #commasmatter Let’s eat, Grandma! Let’s eat Grandma! :eek: ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2016, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-drunken-idiots-may-have-killed-endangered-fish/754932/7 "2016-05-17T02:16:52Z")
If the fish can’t survive drunken idiots, they have no chance on the planet anyway. Time to stop coddling species that are doomed. A few million years after humans become extinct, the planet will again be nicely speciated, with every niche filled. Don’t worry about it. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2016, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-drunken-idiots-may-have-killed-endangered-fish/754932/8 "2016-05-17T14:17:32Z")
> [@jtur88](#): > > If the fish can’t survive drunken idiots, they have no chance on the planet anyway. Time to stop coddling species that are doomed. > > A few million years after humans become extinct, the planet will again be nicely speciated, with every niche filled. Don’t worry about it. ‘If polar bears can’t hunt without ice floes, then they have no chance on the planet anyway. Time to stop coddling species that are doomed.’ But isn’t there value in having them? There were two species of gastric-brooding frogs that existed in Australia. How did they brood their young in their stomachs? We’ll never know because they went extinct 30 years ago. The last I heard there are 1.8 million species of organisms on Earth. Looking it up just now, scientists believe there are 8.7 million. Estimates go as high as 100 million, though admittedly that is a very high estimate. It’s possible there is a cure for cancer out there, and we just have to find it. Can we learn anything from the Devils Hole pupfish? I don’t know. But biodiversity is important. Saving one endangered species has an umbrella effect that saves other species in the biome. Other than that, I agree with your second sentence. When humans are extinct, it’s not the End of the World. It’s just the end of us. Every niche will be filled by organisms we took with us. But why rush it? ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2016, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-drunken-idiots-may-have-killed-endangered-fish/754932/9 "2016-05-17T15:18:35Z")
Plus, who wants an entire fauna descended from cockroaches? That’s just disgusting. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2016, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-drunken-idiots-may-have-killed-endangered-fish/754932/10 "2016-05-17T15:40:48Z")
Don’t go blaming the booze! The bottle don’t make you do the thing, it just lets you. ---
**Author:** ![Whiskey\_Dickens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/9fc348/32.png) [@Whiskey\_Dickens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whiskey_Dickens)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2016, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-drunken-idiots-may-have-killed-endangered-fish/754932/11 "2016-05-17T19:20:44Z")
On behalf of the drunken idiot community I completely apologize. Poor sweet little dogface fish or whatever. Please send back the underwear when you get a chance.