Posts tagged "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.

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.

This happens every single time we take our panda cub to the Daily Squee jungle gym. First, he totters around (adorably, of course). Then, he climbs a little, maybe slides down the slide a time or two. Finally, we get into the "Mom. Mom! Look at me! MOM! Mommy! Check out what I'm doing! MommyMomMomMommyyyyyy!"

If he weren't so cute, we'd probably find ourselves totally annoyed, but how can you do anything but smile at that furry little face?

At the Chengdu breeding center in China, there are 300 baby pandas that will be part of a "large-scale reintroduction program," aka sending the bears back into the wild. In the meantime, consider yourself lucky to witness this video footage of the baby pandas fooling around like a Lisa Frank poster come to life (with less Day-Glo, of course).

Warning: You may want to turn down the volume if a duet version of Randy Newman's "You've Got a Friend in Me" will potentially spoil the experience.

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!

If anyone deserves good news, it's the giant panda. Recently at the Wolong Panda Reserve in Sichuan province, China, a panda named Yo Yo gave birth to twin female cubs. The arrival of the cubs brings the total number of pandas born in China this year to 19, according to Good News Now (GNN).

For pandas, that's quite a baby boom. In fact, it breaks the previous record of 18 cubs born in 2006.

Giant pandas are critically endangered due to the fragmentation and destruction of their habitat in the forests of China, according to the World Wildlife Fund. A survey in 2004 counted just 1,600 pandas left in the wild, the WWF reports. Poaching and a low reproduction rate also hamper the bear's well being, the AP reports. In the wild, females only give birth once every two or three years. Among captive pandas, the arrival of new babies is even rarer.

But things are looking up for the fuzzy black-and-white bears. Today, more than 300 pandas live in captivity, providing an important buffer against extinction. Experts at the Wolong Panda Reserve told the AP that better research on panda nutrition, genetics and reproduction helped bring on the baby boom. They've also created a more natural habitat for the bears that live at the reserve.

It was the "awwww!" heard 'round the world when a pair of baby panda twins made their debut at the Madrid Zoo & Aquarium on October 7. The tiny black-and-white panda cubs dozed in an incubator as cameras captured how they wriggled around, snuggled up to each other and scratched at their noses with their tiny claws.

The month-old pandas, who were born on September 7, have set several records with their birth. They are the first ever twin pandas to be born in Europe, reports ITN News, and the first pandas born from artificial insemination outside of China, reports AOL News. Additionally, they are the first panda bears to be born in Spain since 1982, and only the third litter to be born in Europe, reports the (U.K.) Guardian.

Bottle-fed since birth, the twin pandas weigh just two pounds now. According to ITN News, veterinarians at the Madrid Zoo have determined that one of them is male, while the gender of the second panda is yet to be ascertained. We'll also have to wait a little while longer to learn their names. In keeping with Chinese custom, reports AOL News, the twin panda bears will not be named for 100 days. For now, we may have to refer to them as cute and cuter.



Rounding up our favorite animal stories, photos, and videos on the Web each week!

• 

  Dwarf Lemur Comeback

  A species once thought extinct has recently been found alive and well. What will come back next? The world could use some M.C. Hammer. [via Scientific American]

• 

  Panda Whoopee? Whoopee!

  Two pandas in Vienna had some alone time recently, and now scientists are eager for cubs. May be linked with keeping pandas in most romantic city on Earth. [via Google]

• 

  Lego Love

  An artist has created life-sized sculptures of endangered species made entirely of Legos. More rare than those species? An adult who plays with Legos. [via Tree Hugger]

• 

  Cat Hardball

  Some Web sites report up-to-the-minute news stories. Others have cats interviewing cats. Guess which one we prefer? Here, Urlesque, interviews the most famous cats on the Internet. [via Urlesque]

• 

  Goat Cheese Speakeasies

  Alaska is cracking down on home-made goat-cheese operations. Not by the hairs of their chinny-chin-chins, the farmers say. [via AP]

We all have our favorite animals, but some species need our help more than others. Are you ready to lend a paw?

Tiger
It's hard to imagine a more iconic and recognizable species than the tiger. They are top predators, keeping the food chain balanced. Tigers are famous for their strength and power, reportedly covering up to 10 meters in a single horizontal leap. Yet only 3,200 tigers may be left in the wild, and their original roaming areas have decreased by 40 percent in the past ten years.

Deforestation and poaching are the chief culprits behind the tigers becoming endangered mammals. You can help by contributing to the Save the Tiger fund, a program of the National Fish and Wildlife Federation.

Magellanic Penguin
Penguins: Their social nature and waddling gait endears them to animal lovers worldwide. Unfortunately, 12 of the 17 penguin species are experiencing population declines. Why? Magellanic penguins, which live in South American waters, have faced a host of obstacles -- first, oil spills, and more recently, a loss of the fish they eat due to rising temperatures of ocean water.

Defenders of Wildlife sponsors a program which enables you to adopt a penguin, with funds going towards programs to help this endangered species.

Baby pandas are sweet, and sleepy pandas are adorable. But a video of a group of roly, poly pandas trying to go the wrong way on a slide? It's almost more cuteness than we know how to deal with. Can you handle it?

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.

Researchers in China recently made an exciting (and adorable) discovery when they found a brown giant-panda cub.

Giant pandas are found only in China and already among the most endangered species on the planet. But brown giant pandas, which have brown fur instead of the normal black, are far more rare. This is only the fifth brown giant panda ever recorded, reports PeoplePets.

The panda cub, which is just two months old and has yet to open its eyes or walk, was found in the Foping Giant Panda Reserve in Shaanxi Province, which, according to China Daily, is the same place the first giant brown panda was discovered back in 1985.

This new cub's mother is black and white, like most giant pandas. And the first giant brown panda, Dandan, gave birth to three black and white pandas (all of whom died at a young age, sadly). Experts still don't understand why some pandas are born with the more unusual brown markings. Maybe this fuzzy new addition will help shed more light on the subject!

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