Posts tagged "giant panda"

Every group, large or small, needs a rebel. Every group needs a black sheep, a revolutionary, someone to ask "Why?" and say "No!" If every policy starts out as an unthinkable new idea, someone has to get the ball rolling.

This baby panda is that rebel. While it's brothers and sisters are content to remain caged, playing with their toys, this one yearns to be free. And he won't quit, no matter how many times the man quite literally keeps him down. His victory is not achieved by the end of the video, but if they'd kept the camera on long enough, we'd see him get there.

Half the point of all of these holidays being celebrated in winter is that we need excuses to celebrate at this time of year more than any other. Particularly if you live in a snowy climate, winter is dreary at best. Besides the lack of daylight for months on end, there's lots of inconvenient and sometimes dangerous weather to look forward to.

But now the holiday season is wrapping up, and winter is just getting started. It might seem like there's nothing to celebrate. But take a tip from this adorable panda. Don't think of your holidays as a reason to avoid thinking about winter; use them as a reason to celebrate winter itself. He wants you to see that snow is a gift. Sure, he doesn't have to commute to work every weekday morning. But can't you still access that piece of your heart that remembers what it was like to be a kid, when snow meant free time and fun?

Watch this video, and then make yourself a cup of coffee or hot chocolate, and curl up on the couch, maybe in front of the fireplace, and appreciate all winter has to offer.

We don't relish the idea of any animal embarrassing itself in front of a crowd of nattering onlookers, but you can't deny that sometimes clumsy=cute.

Allow me to expound openly about the cuteness of pandas. When I was a kid, the giant panda was my favorite animal. I completed many school projects about them, had posters of them on my walls, and even later, on my eighth-grade class trip to Washington, D.C. the thing I was most excited about was seeing pandas with my own eyes as the National Zoo, the only place in America where one could find them at the time. Back then I never really stopped to think about why they're so cute. I think it's a combination of a few elements, a perfect storm of cuteness. They carry all the cuddliness of bears without any of the intimidation (or abject terror, depending on the nature of any given bear encounter). Add to that their raccoon-like markings and curiosity. Endlessly goofy, they come across as the most guileless beasts in the animal kingdom. They bear a kind of aw-shucks demeanor that more than anything else reminds me of Winnie the Pooh come to life. And isn't that what all we Christopher-Robin-wannabes wished for as little boys and girls?

"Man, that giant panda we have sure it cute."
"Giant pandas are cute as a rule."
"You're right, but I would argue that this panda is cute even for a panda."
"Oh, I don't disagree!"
"Do you think it would even be possible for this panda to be any cuter?"
"That depends on what you mean."
"How so?"
"If you're asking if there could be a cuter panda than this, than no. If you wanna know if this panda's cuteness could be enhanced, maybe yes."
"That's interesting! Do you have ideas of how to do it?"
"You know I do."
"Hit me, baby."
"You know how cute the panda looks when he's eating? Let's give him something to eat."
"Like bamboo?"
"Nah, he always eats bamboo. I mean something different. Something special."
"Such as?"
"Birthday cake."
"Holy cow, that would be very cute. But it's impossible."
"Why?"
"Pandas can't eat cake. He'll get sick."
"You know, you're right. Darn. I thought it was such a good idea."
"Now hold on. What if we gave him a ice-sculpture birthday cake... with bamboo on it?"
"Shake my hand, you magnificent bastard."

Things Giant Pandas Are Known for: eating bamboo, being adorable

Things Giant Pandas Aren't Known for: high sex drives, physical grace

Nope, pandas aren't the most agile of Earth's creatures. They're big and slow, waddly, floppity, oafish even. Hey, panda, we admire your effort, but you shouldn't try to that again. You don't know your own species very well, do you?

Who even put a rocking horse there to begin with? It seems cruel. They had to know what the outcome would be. Were they intentionally trying to humiliate our cuddly buddy? Let's face it, pandas falling down on their butts is super cute for us, but the panda can't feel too great about himself. Mercifully, the camera pans away momentarily while our furry friend regains his feed and, hopefully, some of his dignity.

With Earth Day coming up, we are featuring 15 of the most fascinating and, sadly, most endangered species on the planet. Read on to learn what's being done to ensure that they'll be around to inspire future generations.

Jaguar. Often mistaken for the leopard, an adult male jaguar can grow up to 250lbs. Even more surprising, this big cat's traditional range includes Arizona, California, New Mexico, and Texas. These days, however, most of the world's jaguar population resides in the rainforests of South America. The Northern Jaguar Project is currently reintroducing these awesome spotted cats on a preserve 125 miles south of the Arizona border.

American crocodile. The American crocodile is distinguishable from the more plentiful American alligator by its brown color and thinner snout which, even when closed, leaves the animal's lower teeth exposed. American crocodiles inhabit the brackish creeks and mangrove of Central America, Mexico, Cuba, Venezuela, and South Florida. While this croc was once under threat of extinction due to over-hunting, the American crocodile is now protected throughout most of its habitat.

Celebrities get lots of perks, like big paychecks and cool freebies, but Jack Black takes the cake -- this morning, he got to help name an adorable 3-month-old giant panda cub, according to Zoo Atlanta.

The panda was named Po, after Black's "Kung Fu Panda" character, a role he'll reprise this May in "Kung Fu Panda 2." Not only is Black known for voicing a panda, but he's lent his star power to helping panda conservation as well.

Black posed with the cuddly cub, who can be seen on Zoo Atlanta's PandaCam. According to the zoo, this is just the beginning of a partnership between Zoo Atlanta and Dreamworks Animation. "Our organizations share a commitment to giant panda conservation, particularly at the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding," said Raymond B. King, president and CEO of Zoo Atlanta. Dreamworks made a donation of an undisclosed amount to the zoo, reports TheBostonChannel.com, which should help with the $500,000-per-year lease the zoo pays China in order to display the pandas.

Po was born Nov. 3 to Lun Lun, and though he already has thousands of fans due to the PandaCam, he won't debut to the public until the end of March or beginning of April.

Look carefully -- only one of the pandas pictured above is actually a panda. Wildlife researchers in China's Sichuan province have been suiting up in their best panda costumes, but not because they're part of a nature-themed children's show. Instead, these researchers are using their clever disguises to prevent captive-born pandas from identifying with humans.

Chinese panda experts believe that the goofy-looking costumes may actually increase a panda cub's chances of survival when it's introduced into the wild. In 2006, according to The Washington Post, the research team introduced a captive-born male cub into the wild only to have it tragically rejected and killed by its free-roaming brethren.

This time around, researchers are doing everything in their power to ensure a successful introduction of the 4-month-old cub pictured above. That includes, of course, dressing up in panda costumes whenever they come in contact with the cute little guy. If the baby panda is taught to associate with only pandas, perhaps it will develop the social skills it needs to adapt to the wild.

The costume approach seems reasonable enough, and we are for anything that helps these creatures survive in the wild. Though we hope the researchers are also doused in their best panda-scented perfume.


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Science has shown that everyone loves pandas. In fact, we are sure that the giant panda is on 100 percent of all Top 10 Favorite Animals lists worldwide. Or at least it should be. But unlike the elegant, prowling tigress or the powerfully galloping wild mustang, it's not for its grace and beauty that we -- and our chums at Daily Squee -- love the giant panda. Clearly the opposite is true. But what is it about the fuzzy clumsiness of an oafish bear that makes us wanna snuggle it and cuddle it beyond all reason? It wouldn't be the safest decision in the world, but every fiber of our beings screams hug!

Break out the bamboo; it's time to celebrate! Our friends at MyDaily report that Zoo Atlanta's giant panda, Lun Lun, gave birth to her third cub this morning just after 5:30 a.m. The first cub, Mei Lan, was born in 2006, and Xi Lan was born in 2008. We are sure that Yang Yang, the father of all three, couldn't be more proud.

No photos or videos of the panda cub have been released, but that doesn't make this news any less monumental. The baby is the only giant panda cub born in a U.S. zoo this year!

MyDaily also included this classic panda video which we had to repost. There's no way the mama's reaction to her little baby's sneeze won't crack you up, even if you've seen this video a thousand times.



For more news and great deals, be sure to check out MyDaily!

Bright pink flamingos are the first things you see upon entering the San Diego Zoo in San Diego, Calif. Dozens of the leggy birds are wading in a lagoon ringed by tall, leafy trees. Some are being trailed by their young offspring, who are small and gray.

"Those are baby flamingos," explains Christina Simmons, the Zoo's Public Relations Director. "Their feathers haven't changed color yet."

One of the most progressive zoos in the country, the San Diego Zoo shows its animals living in "bioclimactic environments." "Before, zoos grouped animals taxonomically, meaning, for example, that all cats were shown together in one part of the zoo," says Simmons. "We took a new approach of replicating prehistoric bioclimactic zones that shows different species of animals living together in their natural habitats."

There's an exhibit showing how elephants, jaguars, lions and the California condor co-existed long ago in the area that is Southern California. In another section, a sloth lives in an enclosure with a Kirk's dik dik, an adorable little antelope that is no bigger than a beagle. "It's a way of exhibiting the animals, but also talking about extinction and conservation," says Simmons.

Pop-quiz time. What's the cutest animal? That's right, the giant panda. And what's the cutest thing a giant panda can be caught doing? No, I'm sorry; "sneezing" is only the second cutest thing. The correct answer: The cutest thing a giant panda can be caught doing is falling (literally!) asleep on its feet.

Tai Shan, the four-year-old panda in Washington's National Zoo, did just that last week. He tried fighting against the Sandman's spell, determined to stay upright, but eventually his drowsiness won out -- until his own forward momentum propelled him into a hilarious nap time somersault. Luckily for all of us, a zoogoer managed to capture Tai Shan's adorable clumsiness on camera, and shared her photos with the (UK) Daily Mail.