No, there wasn't black and white fur flying everywhere, it was a population explosion! Rarely have I see something quite so smoochy-licious as these pics so I had to share them with you.
Apparently the Sichuan Wolong Panda Protection and Breed Center is dealing with the results of a breeding boom where 16 pandas have been born. The brood includes five sets of twins. The cubs are weighed and measured every five days (see the photos), with the heaviest weighing in at just over 24 pounds, while the lightest weighs about 11 pounds.
The pandas are due to stop suckling soon - just about the time they'll start learning to walk. Once weaned, the panda cubs will attend panda kindergarten- wouldn't you love to work there! In the meantime, more little ones are expected at the centre since 38 giant pandas were artificially impregnated.
(Wow,someone had a sore wrist!)
If ever there was a place where it must be a box of fluffies to go to work everyday, this is it. How they stop the employees going home with their pockets stuffed full of pandas I don't know! I'm guessing once they hit the 500 kg mark and their claws are four inches long pandas aren't quite so cute any more, but as babies don't they just make you want to dip them in chocolate sauce and gobble them right up?
Click on the images to enlarge them, then put your face really close to the screen and imagine you hear this guy sighing as he drifts of to sleep. He's had a hard day of playing and being cuddled, after all. And based on the statistics, all he's got to look forward to in adult life is a hot date with a lab technician and a test tube!
1 comment:
I wish they cared so much, or even only half about the rest of their environment, like the Jangtse Dolphin, now (nearly?) extinct.
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