Adorable panda cub refuses to let go of his favourite toy

[geminibear]

It's my ball! Adorable panda cub refuses to let go of his favourite toy (despite repeatedly falling over)

 

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3584303/It-s-ball-Adorable-panda-cub-refuses-let-favourite-toy-despite-repeatedly-falling-over.html#ixzz48RuNJgIB

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http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2016/05/11/09/3408CE8600000578-3584303-image-a-1_1462956673968.jpg

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2016/05/11/09/3408CE8D00000578-3584303-image-a-2_1462956677646.jpg

http://video.dailymail.co.uk/video/mol/2016/05/11/5500214388511493449/640x360_5500214388511493449.mp4

[Rod Hagen]

I want one!

[Mo Mason]

That is seriously cute!

[+ azdr0710]

I want one!

 

veering horribly off topic, but this reminded me of this from Willy Wonka....no offense at all, Rod!

 

[Mo Mason]

"There's going to be a lot of garbage today."

[samhexum]

Scientists discover pandas sing to each other for sex

 

 

 

Scientists from China and the US have released their findings from a study of the mating rituals of giant pandas today and the results are quite extraordinary and very romantic.

 

The study, conducted over the course of two years, found that giant pandas have the best and possibly only, sex of their lives when their partners sing them a love song beforehand.

 

These love songs are even whispered into the panda’s fluffy ears during intercourse.

 

Lurking scientists then recorded these sexy panda vocalizations and analyzed them back in their lab, concluding that the sweet songs are “crucial for achieving behavioral synchrony and signaling intention to mate.”

 

The study examined 23 adult giant pandas during the 2016 and 2018 breeding seasons in Sichuan, China. Their findings were published in Royal Society Open Science.

 

All the subjects were sexually active, responsible adult pandas. The scientists clearly had no time for bedroom rookies.

 

The subjects were kept in a sort of tawdry sex enclosure, where they were introduced to their one night stand and observed by researchers from afar.

 

Each session recorded sounds that were described in the study as “bleats, chirps, moans, barks and roars.”

 

Apparently, some of these sounds indicate that sex is about to get violent and could leave one of the pandas with serious or life-threatening injuries.

 

As a result, the study recommended that animal caretakers should be trained to recognize the different vocal behaviors of their pandas in order to predict “successful copulation versus…likely failure.”

 

“This could also provide a valuable tool for breeding programs,” the study found.

 

[+ Avalon]

Pandas are adorable!!!

[Rod Hagen]

COOL!

[Bearofdistinction]

Sinatra or Barry White songs?

[samhexum]

Sinatra or Barry White songs?

 

You mean Beary White. Right? :D:p:D:p:D:cool::):):):)

[Guest]

veering horribly off topic, but this reminded me of this from Willy Wonka....no offense at all, Rod!

 

I have a niece like that. She's all grown up now, and has never had to lift a finger... She gets it all. Not quite as sassy, though.

[samhexum]

A fully albino giant panda has been filmed roaming bamboo forests in China — the first ever recorded in the wild, an expert says.

 

The footage was taken on an infrared camera in April in Wolong National Nature Reserve, about 2,000 meters (6,562 feet) above sea level in southwestern China’s Sichuan province, reserve management authorities said Saturday.

 

A fully albino giant panda in Wolong National Nature Reserve, in China’s Sichuan province.

Li Sheng, a researcher with Beijing’s Peking University, told CNN that no fully albino giant panda had ever been recorded in the wild before.

 

He was quoted by Chinese state media CCTV as saying it was likely to be only one or two years old.

 

“The panda looked strong and his steps were steady, a sign that the genetic mutation may not have quite impeded its life,” Li said.

 

The nature reserve plans to set up more infrared cameras to observe its growth and how it interacts with other giant pandas in the area.

 

Animals with albinism — which results in a lack of melanin, or skin pigment — are often at greater risk from predators in the wild as they can be spotted more easily and have poorer eyesight, according to the National Geographic.

 

The giant panda is classified as vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. According to the World Wife Fund for Nature, there are 1,864 left in the wild.

 

[samhexum]

Xin Xing, the world’s oldest panda and progenitor of dozens of new members of her endangered species, has died at 38.

 

In human-age equivalent, the so-called “hero mother” of Chongqing Zoo in western China would have been about 130 years old.

 

The announcement came Monday via social media, on the zoo’s WeChat page, nearly two weeks after the panda matriarch’s death — though the reason for delay remains unclear.

 

The panda matriarch, whose name translates to “new star,” bore 36 of her own cubs during her long and fruitful life, many of whom now reside in countries such as the US, Canada and Japan.

 

Xin Xing was born in the summer of 1982 at a protected panda sanctuary in Baoxing, Sichuan, and brought to Chongqing Zoo before she was a year old.

 

Earlier this year, Xin Xing celebrated her 38th birthday in August with a party for zoogoers and “cake” made of her favorite treats, including bamboo shoots and fruit.

 

At that time, her lifelong keeper, then 56-year-old Zhang Naicheng, told reporters for China Daily, “We spend so much time together, and she is like a family member to me.”

 

“I want to continue looking after her and help her to live to at least 40 years old,” Zhang told iPandaNews.com last year. “We can grow old together, and make her the longest living panda.”

 

Only one other panda, Jia Jia, who died in 2016 also at 38, has lived as long as Xin Xing.

 

Xin Xing’s handlers began to notice lethargy and a loss of appetite in October, followed by labored breathing, imbalance and abdominal swelling. Medical experts from the China Giant Panda Conservation and Research Center and the First Affiliated Hospital of the Heavy Medical School came to tend to Xin Xing — to no avail.

 

A post-mortem examination revealed she had died of multiple organ failure due to advanced aging.

 

“The departure of the giant panda Xinxing makes us feel heartache, and we hereby inform friends from all walks of life who care about Xinxing,” the zoo said in their statement.

 

There are fewer than 1,900 giant pandas left in the world, according to the World Wildlife Federation, most of which live in the temperate forests of southwest China.