More about pandas
I was having a private conversation with someone about my recent trip and the pandas. That prompted me to look up a bit more about pandas, so here's some random thoughts about them I had while researching them.
The other person mentioned the pandas in San Diego Zoo always have their back turned, she suspected they were texting each other about how many morons there are in line to see them. When I went to Memphis, the male panda, Le Le, was interesting and right there against the glass. Not a shrieking violet. But then again, it was slow. There was never more than five people at a time. Perhaps later, when it's more crowded, he turns his back and starts texting. Although, odds are that he's more likely to be surfing panda porn. They keep the poor panda's in separate cages, at least they were while we were there. So the guy's probably a little frustrated. So he's surfing the net and looking at tourist photos of the female while thinking 'Awww yeah, look at the markings on her...'
The female, Ya Ya, was asleep the entire time. Obviously not a woman who misses male attention.
Since I'm talking about panda sex, I was reading the wikipedia article about pandas in zoos. Wiki mentions "Zoologischer Garten Berlin - home of Bao Bao, age 27, the oldest male panda living in captivity; he has been in Berlin for 25 years and has never reproduced." Now I couldn't help but notice, the poor guy is alone. Every other zoo has two pandas, male and female. But Berlin only has one panda. And I thought Ya Ya had it tough. However, what really astounds me is they felt the need to mention he hasn't reproduced. He's alone. The nearest female panda is several countries away in Spain. Of course he hasn't reproduced. What I want to know is who expected him to? Is there some zoologist sitting there going 'Man, Bao Bao is totally blowing my theory. I could have sworn they reproduced by splitting like amoebas do...'?
I also note the pandas names are rather odd. There is Le Le, Ya Ya, Bao Bao, Wang Wang (boy, just can't avoid the topic of panda sex, can I?), Gu Gu, Jia Jia, An An, Ying Ying, Gao Gao, Zhen Zhen, and so on. You get the idea. I know pandas are Chinese so it makes sense for them to have Chinese names, but have you ever met a Chinese person with names like these? I know many Changs and Zhangs and Chans, but I have never met a Bao Bao. I suspect when it comes time to name a panda what they do is bring in a 6 month old child and the name is whatever the first thing the kid says. Although, thinking about it, there is Yo Yo Ma. Maybe he looked especially panda like when he was born?
While looking up pandas I noticed this picture in a google search. Le Le must be very pleased:
The other person mentioned the pandas in San Diego Zoo always have their back turned, she suspected they were texting each other about how many morons there are in line to see them. When I went to Memphis, the male panda, Le Le, was interesting and right there against the glass. Not a shrieking violet. But then again, it was slow. There was never more than five people at a time. Perhaps later, when it's more crowded, he turns his back and starts texting. Although, odds are that he's more likely to be surfing panda porn. They keep the poor panda's in separate cages, at least they were while we were there. So the guy's probably a little frustrated. So he's surfing the net and looking at tourist photos of the female while thinking 'Awww yeah, look at the markings on her...'
The female, Ya Ya, was asleep the entire time. Obviously not a woman who misses male attention.
Since I'm talking about panda sex, I was reading the wikipedia article about pandas in zoos. Wiki mentions "Zoologischer Garten Berlin - home of Bao Bao, age 27, the oldest male panda living in captivity; he has been in Berlin for 25 years and has never reproduced." Now I couldn't help but notice, the poor guy is alone. Every other zoo has two pandas, male and female. But Berlin only has one panda. And I thought Ya Ya had it tough. However, what really astounds me is they felt the need to mention he hasn't reproduced. He's alone. The nearest female panda is several countries away in Spain. Of course he hasn't reproduced. What I want to know is who expected him to? Is there some zoologist sitting there going 'Man, Bao Bao is totally blowing my theory. I could have sworn they reproduced by splitting like amoebas do...'?
I also note the pandas names are rather odd. There is Le Le, Ya Ya, Bao Bao, Wang Wang (boy, just can't avoid the topic of panda sex, can I?), Gu Gu, Jia Jia, An An, Ying Ying, Gao Gao, Zhen Zhen, and so on. You get the idea. I know pandas are Chinese so it makes sense for them to have Chinese names, but have you ever met a Chinese person with names like these? I know many Changs and Zhangs and Chans, but I have never met a Bao Bao. I suspect when it comes time to name a panda what they do is bring in a 6 month old child and the name is whatever the first thing the kid says. Although, thinking about it, there is Yo Yo Ma. Maybe he looked especially panda like when he was born?
While looking up pandas I noticed this picture in a google search. Le Le must be very pleased: