I think another issue is the mistrust by professional wildlife
managers, etc., of amateur collectors and hobbyists. In the
bird world there has been some good reasons for this mistrust.
Breeders have become very successful at breeding South American
macaws. However, many often get bored with the handful of
species, some of which are truly endangered. The result is
massive hybridization and the muddling of gene pools. This undercuts
the argument that private breeding is preserving the species
(with the usual understanding that domestic birds can be used
to repopulate the wild), because in fact the hybridization
is not preserving species at all. Responsible breeders are
refusing to hybridize, but you see mongrel macaws for sale all
the time, with common names for the more common hybrids. A naive
buyer may think he or she is buying a nonhybrid bird when
purchasing a "Ruby Macaw" or a "Catalina Macaw" etc.
Now in the world of Nepenthes, it seems that many people love
hybridizing, with similar results that common hybrids have popular
names. Certainly hybridizing plants goes back to the beginning
of agriculture! But do you think part of the resistance
of botanical gardens and wildlife preserves to release plants
is the worry that the plants will be used to make a continuum
of hybrids? I really don't know myself.
-David Britt