Credit: San Diego Shooter/Flickr
Today is the 100th edition of Baby Panda Thursday, and, I’m afraid to say, the last. It’s been an absolute pleasure to scour through photos of pandas every week (give or take) for the last two and a half years, but I’m determined that Thursdays will not be bad days anymore, and they will not need the cuteness to cheer me up. Don’t think for a second that this is the last you’ll see of pandas on the site, though.
The BBC have a new series on at the moment called Nature’s Miracle Babies, and the first episode featured lots of cute and cuddly baby pandas. I only half-watched it really, jealous of the man getting to play around with the balls of fluff, and also slightly concerned when they practically ripped his plastic apron from him as they played.
I watched and blogged a BBC documentary on the almost impossibility of pandas reproducing, so I’m well aware of their “miracle” status. Still, they are cute when they finally arrive.
Whilst wandering around the Steam Fair last weekend, we found a line of displays that showed off how smaller engines could deliver a steady stream of water. One couple in particular had a unique way of showing off their technology.
I should have taken video really, because the panda was hooked up to the lever and pumping away at the water. Back and forth he went, poor thing. It was like slave labour!
I am a terrible artist. I can see things in my head, but there is some kind of communication lost between my imagination and my hand, so that a pencil drawing ends up looking terrible.
Nevertheless, I recently got lost in a world of “how to draw” videos on YouTube, and when I realised it was Baby Panda Thursday today, I thought the two things would combine quite nicely.
A beautiful little animation. It’s sad at the end, but the description on Vimeo suggests it “sets off the compassion of an imaginative little boy” which I think can only be a good thing.
Whilst on my trip around the Merrivale Model Village, I spotted the zoo with added baby pandas! Fantastic!
There doesn’t seem to be an awful lot of bamboo for so many pandas living in one space, and I’m surprised they are housed between the monkeys and the llamas.
Credit: jsteph/Flickr
I’m aware that content on this here blog has been a bit thin on the ground recently. Thank goodness for the music challenge for being something of a stopgap. I’m burrowed under calendar dates and F1 facts, getting towards the end of the second part of 365 F1 Stories.
The finish line is close now and it’s hard to think of anything else. I’m pushing myself too hard, but it’s almost impossible not to - it’s fun to do, and the nearer I get the more I want to do.
This week, I got my update from the WWF about their work with pandas.
When I first sponsored a panda, they sent over information about Zhu Xiong, suggesting this was the specific panda that my money was going towards. I doubted that very much, but either way, that has come to an end anyway.
From the newsletter:
…it’s been a while since our team in China have spotted her. We think she may have retired to an area where it’s too remote and inaccessible to find her anymore.
Credit: suemoff/Flickr
Sad news this week, when the world’s oldest panda died aged 34. Ming-Ming lived in Guangdong Province, and passed away from kidney failure. But, she had lived a long life - the average for a panda in captivity is just 22 years!
A couple of weeks ago, Google featured pandas in their doodle for Earth Day. They were interactive and moved about a little when you hovered over them, but even stationery, they were still little cutsies.
I do approve of the penguins, too, but this is not Baby Penguin Thursday.
My dearest, darling brother (ha!) emailed me this last week. It’s a poster for Panda liquorice (bleurgh), and the tagline reads: “If you love liquorice, all you see is panda.”
I don’t like liquorice at all, so I would change it to: “If you like pandas, all you see is panda.” But I guess that’s not as catchy.
A couple of weeks ago, I discovered a new iPod game called Land-a-panda. The premise is simple, but it gets complicated quickly. You have a panda on one side of the course and he is keen to get to his lady friend on the other side of the course (they must be in that magical 12 hours of a 365 period when they’re attracted to each other).
The BBC have a cute little clip of baby panda Po, introduced at Atlanta Zoo. A while back, I thought the Beeb were doing better at allowing videos for embeds, but it appears not, so I will have to settle for just linking and hoping for the best.
I did take a cheeky screenshot though.
A couple of recent updates from ZooBorns.com have covered the world of baby pandas exceptionally well.
Firstly, a baby panda at Zoo Atlanta has been sponsored by Dreamworks! Kinda weird, but they’re funding some conservation projects in exchange for calling the panda Po, which is apparently from the Kung Fu Panda film. It sort of doesn’t sit right, but at the same time, I’m sure the extra funding is very welcome!
Then there’s the post about the progress of panda cubs in Madrid, and there are a gazillion pictures in this post, with my particular favourite being the final one.
Remember last week I told you about the Natural World Special that was to be shown on BBC Two on Tuesday? Well, I watched it and here are my findings.
“We have pushed the symbol of conversation to the brink of extinction.” Hehehe, he said International Rescue. Around 2000 giant pandas remain. How can it be a carnivore but only eats grass? Founded with just six pandas. AWWWWW. That woman looks really happy to be carrying the panda. Wouldn’t you?? They say the ultimate goal is to release them into the wild, which seems odd. The pandas aren’t that good at looking after themselves normally, let alone after having been bottle-fed. When they reach 300 pandas, they will start to reintroduce them - so that there’s a good base to start from. None of the right kind of bamboo grows near Chengdu. Doh. Some people are climbing into the mountains to cut down the bamboo for the pandas. It might have made more sense to build the panda base near the food. Apparently the pandas reject two thirds of what is brought back. Ungrateful beasts! A giant truckload of bamboo lasts the pandas only one day, so there are lots of cutters who have a regular income from the greedy bears. One panda is just sitting and eating. A worker puts another piece of bamboo in, it grabs it and starts chewing on that instead. They are so cute and lazy. There’s one 12-24 hour window for pandas to get pregnant in a whole YEAR. They are making the male pandas do special exercises to strengthen their legs specifically for the act of mating. You know that whole thing of animals leaving their scent to scare off others? Pandas like to climb their back legs as high up a tree trunk as possible to pretend to be taller. They ain’t foolin’ no one though. One panda is unfortunately called Pin Bin. It could be Pin Pin. It could even be Bin Bin. I’m not sure. I should have put subtitles up. They have tested one female who is ready for mating and brought Pin Bin into the cage next door. They have tried to use bamboo to tempt the male towards the female, but he just sat down and ate it. They’re saying it’s the first time she’s ever been near another adult panda. And then seem surprised that they don’t know what to do once they are thrown together. They have had to give up on the whole mating thing. Silly pandas. “It’s a myth that pandas aren’t interested in sex. They’re just picky about their partners.” They ran out of time trying to get the two pandas to mate so they’re doing things artificially instead. There’s quite a lot of pressure all round, considering they only get this chance once a year. He has just blown a tranquiliser dart at the panda. Kinda like in the movies. Although then it’s not pandas, and more people. It’s taking 15 vets to do all this. Madness. But then again it only takes five minutes for them to do it, so the panda can be woken up again in good time. They’re so fluffy and cute. They’re not going to know if the panda is pregnant or not until just before she gives birth, and that could be anywhen between 11 weeks or 11 months. I’m beginning to think these pandas are just plain awkward. Now they’re talking about family inbreeding, and freezing bits and pieces.
Next week, there is a programme on the BBC all about the Chengdu Research Base in China. I will definitely be watching the programme - although probably not as it goes out live, which is Tues 7th at 8pm on BBC Two. iPlayer all the way! I’ll report back my findings next week.
Meanwhile, in advance of the programme going out, the BBC offered up three super cute videos of some of the baby pandas at the base. Here they are! (I don’t think much of the keyword laden titles.)
I wanted to do something with the image of the giant maze from Longleat, but it didn’t come out as well as I’d hoped, and wasn’t interesting enough for a header. Instead, I upped the green colour, and used a kaleidoscope tile effect. It’s not what I was going for at all, but I find it intriguing.
Made with: Pixelmator Original Image: Maze Font: Apple Chancery
Now, remember I told you before about Cutest Food? I just adore this Panda Gummy Bear picture. Who would ever eat that? It’s far too cute for consumption.
And, the always excellent ZooBorns has a whole host of baby panda goodness - photos taken at a research base in China. I particularly like this quote from the comments on that post:
I am surprised that the intense concentration of so much cute in one place hasn’t caused a temporal disturbance.
11 weeks ago, a zoo in Vienna, Austria welcomed a little baby panda.
Now they’re trying to decide on a name for the youngster, and are asking for people to vote. His brother is called Fu Long, and the choices they’ve come up with are Fu Hu, Ao Kang and Wei Xing. Does anyone else think Fu Hu sounds like boo hoo? Sadly that name is winning at the moment.
Not much to report this week, as Thursday appears to be behaving itself so far. However, via ZooBorns, I learnt that the one and only baby panda cub born in the US in 2010 has made it’s appearance at Zoo Atlanta.
Not sure referencing the size of a cell phone is particularly helpful when they vary so much!
I don’t really like the scrawny panda cubs, they normally get cuter when they’re a bit older. It’s only a few weeks until we have another fluffy bundle to ogle though. Long live the baby panda!
A quick look at Etsy this week.
Sliding Invitation Cards It looks like the panda is actually crushing the text, but in fact, it slides around a bit. I’m not quite sure why, but it’s fun, and I particularly like a purple panda.
Etsy Link: simplypearlee
Silly Fuzzy Pandas Aww, these are so cute. The wool is definitely fuzzy, so I wonder if it might be a bit itchy and therefore not huggable, but even so cute little square shaped pandas.
Credit: Shinya ICHINOHE/Flickr
I know, I know, it’s not called ‘Baby Panda and Man Thursday’ but I love how the panda is just oblivious, happily chewing on what I assume is bamboo but looks suspiciously like a cigar.
It must be time for another Etsy-flavoured Baby Panda Thursday, in which I bring you some of the cute handmade stuff I have spotted over there.
Painted Rock Panda with Bamboo I know, I know, it’s a painted rock. But look at how much detail there is! It’s definitely weird, the panda is a bit squished but I like it.
Ohm Ohm Panda We’ve already established that I like pandas when they are given amusing characters (ahem, Nerdy Panda). I like to think this one has quite a stressful job running a bamboo factory, and is taking a breather from high-flying meetings.
Thanks to Leigh, I have found a new panda related site to peruse: Perfect Pandas.
The updates are generally cute panda related items, such as Panda Ice Cream and Panda Mahjong. I particularly like the post about the Panda Earbuds.
I would not wear these, but still. Cuteness.
I got an update through for the panda I adopted and the newsletter bore the headline: “Panda rescue drama.” Inside it tells the story of a panda that wandered off and became stranded on a steep hillside. A rescue team had to be dispatched to get it back. It says:
To stop the wayward bear becoming frightened, onlookers and other non-essential staff were evacuated from the site. The rescuers then climbed down to where the panda was located, and lured it away from the hillside with sticks of delicious bamboo. They soon managed to coax it back to the safety of the reserve.
I don’t suppose these are baby pandas really, but I wanted to point out the newest panda related goodies I have been coveting on Etsy.
Nerdy Panda!
I also think the happy bread is quite cute but that is not for this post.
On Friday of last week, the Cutest Food blog posted a panda cake. It just missed out last week, so I saved it up for this week.
It is cute, although the bottom one looks a bit like a pair of binoculars.
My goodness, there are some really fabulous photos of Yun Zi available thanks to the San Diego Shooter.
Relaxing Peekaboo! Sitting How adorable is that big ball of fluff? And how soon can I get to San Diego??
I think it’s time we had another Etsy edition of Baby Panda Thursday, starting with this rather cute note card:
5x5 baby panda note card I never really have any need for note cards but there are some really nice ones available.
Lupe This is similar to the Mr Panda that I bought a while ago, but there’s something about the lack of detail on this one that I like.
Let us begin with some awesomely cute pandas.
I really love the running panda at about a minute in.
Now, this may go against the grain a little but I was recently introduced to the YouTube account Cute Things Exploding. There doesn’t seem to be a rhyme or reason for the desire to make cute things disappear in a puff of smoke, but naturally, a baby panda wasn’t far behind.
A couple of pictures today:
Credit: Brooke/Flickr
Lots of pandas:
Credit: May Wong/Flickr
Plus, I can’t embed it but check out this picture of a lady hugging a panda. I could not be more jealous.
Finally, my dad forwarded this news story to me about pandas calling for mates. I refuse to believe that pandas “chirp” and “bleat.” I don’t know what noise they do make, but bleating? Really?
Thanks to Kara who pointed me towards the San Diego video page via Twitter. There are all the videos we had on the last Baby Panda Thursday, plus some more ridiculously cute ones. However, we must move on from the videos, as I am crazy jealous of the people who get to play with baby pandas for a living. Instead, let’s look at some more crafts and stuff.
I like this badge/button thing, and there are a couple of others available on Steppie’s Etsy page. The nerd one is also a good one! However, I’m not sure what you are supposed to do with badge/buttons? My bag is not a material made for piercing, and my coat is similarly uncooperative.
I don’t want to just rip a post directly from ZooBorns but it would be remiss of me not to use this week’s Baby Panda Thursday to publicise these crazy-cute panda videos.
The San Diego Zoo released all five of the baby panda exam videos, and all I can say is: I might die from the cuteness.
There was no BPT last week, so today we’ll have a bumper crop of panda goodness.
A little snuggly cutie.
Credit: SSkelton1/Flickr
Going a little bit more abstract, I wanted to point out these panda slippers. I’m not really sure about wearing a panda on your feet, but they are kinda cute.
Finally, this bit of origami work is awesomeness! We featured some panda creations before, but this one is new. Origami has always baffled me, but I love it.
Ah, stupid Thursdays. Here are some baby pandas to help us all through the day.
Credit: Dustin Crawford/Flickr
I also want to point out the latest ZooBorns post on pandas, which introduces us to the newest cub at the San Diego Zoo. Nick, over on Sidepodcast.com, said the cub looked suspiciously like George from Rainbow. It does too!
Here we go then, a selection of photos from the amazing A Perfect World of Pandas Flickr Group.
Credit: xu ye/Flickr
The one one the end so looks like it is sucking its thumb.
Credit: hwee__ling/Flickr
I’m not actually sure this one is a baby, but so fluffy!
Credit: Cheryl/Flickr
Ah, the cuteness.
