I first learned about them from the San Diego Zoo.
They're nurturing the babies, some of which are twins. In the wild, mother pandas have twins about half the time, but abandon one twin to die in order to concentrate on the other. Not so here at Wolong.
Unlike most cubs, which are only children, these little babies are socialized with peers. They fight and play and cuddle with each other.
My first serious thought is, China still has that barbaric one-child-per-family policy, which led to an entire generation of only children. If a woman there has twins, one must be aborted. Aren't their priorities out of whack? Even if they do have way more people than pandas, and people are encroaching on panda territory, which is one of the reasons why they're endangered?
My second serious thought is, these babies' little panda brains are going to be so different from others! They aren't going to be only children like the others. They're going to be used to play and interaction, not the near-solitary lives most pandas lead. With more breeding programs like this one, will we see an evolution in pandas? Because of us peoples' interference?
Ah, well. At least the possible crimes against nature yielded very cute results, even if L'Ailee is going around singing songs from "101 Dalmatians."
3 comments:
They're cute and beautiful and amazing all at once. I wonder how many of those babies will be sent to zoos around the world when they're a little older, and help with breeding programs? There' sjust something so childlike and innocent about them.
Well, they are innocent children. Innocent animal children. But I know what you mean--the adults come off so innocent and childlike and sweet, too. Wolong is doing something amazing here, and I don't want to minimize that in the slightest!
101 Dalmations indeed.
They are adorable but it does make me wonder about how much we've encroached on nature and created the need for places like Wolong.
Oh well.
Here's to the LIGHT.
STB
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