Pandas invade Berlin station!

1600 model pandas outside Berlin station.

It was the German WWF's way of celebrating its 50th anniversary and highlighting the plight of pandas at the same time.

Wish I was there!

The Atlanta Twins

Things seem to be going swimmingly with this pair of cubs, now 10 days old.

I love the fact that their eyes and ears are starting to turn black! And they have amazingly long tails...

I wonder when they are going to be named? I presume the zoo is waiting until they are certain that they will survive before giving the, names. And who chooses the names? Bearing in mind that they are the property of China, does the Chinese government name them? Or will officials in Atlanta pick Chinese names for them?

Photo courtesy of Atlanta Zoo.

Baby pandas in China

The first captive-born pandas of 2013 have arrived!

 

More information (well, slightly) and a short video clip can be found on the BBC website.

Panda made from handbags

Not sure I entirely understand the point of making a panda from Louis Vuitton handbags, but apparently it was a collaboration with artist Billie Achilleos.

He is rather cute :)

For further information see the original story on BuzzFeed or Elle UK

Pandas in the wild!

I am so excited to see that the WWF have released new photographs and video footage of pandas in the wild! It's pretty unusual (because they really are so rare and solitary creatures), which makes it extra great!

Here's a teaser photo to get you started:

You can view the rest of the photos here and the video here (WARNING it takes a long time to download, but there's a short clip easily available on the Huffington Post website).

Get your needles out

Spotted whilst browsing the department store. Shame I'm more of a crocheter...

Names are important

Latest news from Edinburgh Zoo

The Edinburgh pandas (Tian Tian and Yang Guang) haven't really mastered the art of mating. Last year signs were promising but nothing came of it. This year the scientists seem to have been waiting for weeks for Tian Tian to hit the 36 hour window where she could conceive. Eventually she did, but despite Yang Guang's enthusiasm, she refused all advances.

So the experts decided to go down the artificial insemination route: creating baby pandas in so important that scientists will do almost anything to create them now! For all the details (including what I rate as an unneccessary photograph of poor Tian Tian in the surgery surrounded by vets), check out the BBC's report here.

And apparently, there's a choice of two different fathers: Yang Guang and Bao Bao. Bao Bao, who lived at Berlin Zoo, died last year, but not before his sperm was frozen! (Did I mention that scientists are pretty keen on making baby pandas?!)

We should know in July if Tian Tian is pregnant, and if there is to be a new panda then it would be born in late August/early September. Exciting!

Amazing panda photo

I saw this on twitter (via @SWildlifepics) and it took my breath away! It was much too good just to retweet - this picture deserves its own blog post:

Stacking pandas

These lovely creatures were a gift for my birthday last year. Apparently you can buy all sorts of sizes up to nearly a metre across! That would be a stack and a half!

Mood panda

I downloaded this free app onto my phone partly because it was recommended by a magazine that I read, but mainly because it's panda-y.

I have this icon on my phone and it makes me smile.

The app basically asks you to track your mood. It does other social stuff, like update your mood onto twitter and allow other people to comment on your mood, but it's not exactly rocket science.

I like that you can graph your mood.

Mostly I like the panda graphics.

Mother and baby playing

[video can be viewed on this website]

This is such a fantastic video of a mother and baby panda playing. Originally posted on the Daily Mail online, the film shows some very boisterous playing from a zoo in China (specific location unspecified). It's rare to see such lively behaviour from giant pandas...

ZSL Tiger Territory

With no current plans to visit pandas (they are all located so far away!), I've been looking for other ways to fufil my wild animal excitement!

And here is is, London Zoo's newest exhibit:

Tiger Territory - the up close tiger experience

It's five times the size of the previous enclosure, including:

• tall trees for climbing and high feeding platforms
• a custom-built pool
• indoor dens with viewing areas
• floor-to-ceiling glass windows

And there's even a Live Tiger cam :)

Time for a trip to see the tigers methinks...

Amazing new discovery

Scientists have discovered a new species in South Sudan: a bat with panda-like markings!

Isn't it incredible?

Apparently its genetics are pretty unique; it doesn't fit with the other bats that it was originally thought to be related to (and no-one is actually suggesting that it is related to the giant panda!). In fact, they've had to create a new genus "Niumbaha" which means rare or unusual in the local language where it lives.

Read the whole story here - Mail Online: The find of a lifetime.

Fabulous socks

Remember last week when I proudly announced that I hadn't bought the panda slippers because they were overly cute and I didn't need them?

Well, I got a present. And it was panda socks...

 

Aren't they cool? And I'm a complete hypocrit :) Oh well...

(If you're interested in purchasing some super-cool socks, they came from Accessorize and you can find them here.)

Roller skating pandas?!

You cannot imagine my excitement when the latest kit kat advert came on TV the other night.

Pandas?!

Roller skating pandas?!?!

What I didn't realise at the time was that this is an old advert (from 1989) which Nestle have decided to re-show. Anyways, it's super cool - they're even wearing quads! Proper old skool :) 

If my particular glee about roller skating pandas has confused you, please check out my other blog for roller skating goodness :)

Climbing trees

I love the way that giant pandas are a mix of agile and lazy.

This video from Chengu illustrates it perfectly: climb up and slither between branches perfectly, then pause and lie across the tree at a uncomfortable-looking angle.

Slippers

I do have my limits. Much as I love pandas and get excited by panda-related items, I'm not filling up my house with thousands and thousands of kitsch panda items.

Here's an example: the other day I spotted something exciting in Primark (of all places) - panda slippers!

They were very cute, but I sometimes feel the urge to remind myself that I am not fourteen years old any more. I don't need panda slippers, especially not ones with cutesy pink bows on them (I do not do pink!). However, it still made me happy to see them :)

Reading material

I stumbled across this very cute looking book the other day:

It has a website at www.littlepandabook.com (what a cool url!), where the author/illustrator Renata Liwska explains how the book developed. It has lots of beautiful panda sketches too. Check it out!

Giant panda 101

I stumbled across this very cute video the other day:

From Visual.ly created by jomomedia

Such a cleverly made little animation.

My newest treat

I was browsing in Paperchase and found these...

Panda highlighters, how fabulous. They have made me very happy :)

Panda purchases and presents are the best.


A quick perusal of their website revealed that they also have panda ballpoint pens. I might have to go back for one!

Edinburgh Zoo (aka The first panda-spotting mission)

Before the trip to Madrid (that involved an additional 400 miles on an already-really-long road trip holiday), we visited Edinburgh Zoo.

Ever since the pandas arrived at Edinburgh Zoo in December 2011, I'd been half-heartedly dreaming about a trip to see them. In April 2012, we flew up for a mini-break. I was very excited about my first panda-spotting holiday.

The middle day of our trip was designated panda day. You have to book a time-slot online, so we had no choice but to head to the zoo even though it appeared to be snowing. I guess that's Scotland for you!

Unfortunately, the pandas weren't exactly playing ball. The female, was comfortably asleep. I could still have happily watched her all day, especially as every now and again she shuffled slightly! After about ten minutes, we were led outside to see the male panda who on cue promptly disappeared back inside. Given how popular the pandas are, the booking system is pretty strict and there was no option to retrace our steps and see him. I was pretty disappointed. I couldn't even book another slot because there wasn't any available.

Tian Tian snoozing :)

So all in all, I got to see one panda sleeping for a few minutes, and didn't really see the other one at all!

On the bright side, I did have a brilliant couple of days away and the rest of the zoo is very well laid-out and I got to see a great range of animals (including the only koalas in the UK). Edinburgh is beautiful.

The only panda we got a decent look at was at the airport!

All in all, the Edinburgh experience was pretty disappointing. The reason the male panda went inside was that the keepers had just filled his enclosure with bamboo and opened the door. They knew that he would disappear, but still led us out to see him. Not great.

Facebook-y goodness

One of my current favourite things is the Chengu Pambassador facebook page.

They basically fill my timeline with cute panda pictures, which make me smile on a daily basis...

See - you have to smile with panda pictures :)

Madrid Zoo

I loved visiting Madrid Zoo. It was an August day and rediculously hot, but who cares when there's pandas involved?

Madrid Zoo has four pandas (parents and two youngsters), which gives the viewer plenty to enjoy! I thought I'd spent about 30mins watching them, turns out it was closer to an hour! Oops...

Pandas really are pretty slow, lazy creatures most of the time. The adults have to spend a lot of time eating because bamboo has very limited nutritional value, and as a general rule they move about very slowly.

The adult male panda spent our visit eating. It was cool to see him manipulate the bamboo with all four paws and grip it with his almost-a-thumb pads.

The female was also eating (read: lying completely covered in bamboo). But she did trundle off outside to play with her water bowl too.

The youngsters were sleepy. One just wanted to lie down with his paw over his face and ignore the world.

Unfortunately for him, his brother was half-heartedly leaning on top of him and rolling around. After a particularly comedic backwards roll where he got stick upside down, the slightly more active one levered himself onto a branch and gently slithered down to the ground, waiting for gravity to do the hard work so he didn't have to :)

It was a- maz-ing!!!

Another snowy panda picture

I know I blogged snowy panda pictures just a couple of days ago, but then I saw this tweeted by @NationalZoo (Smithsonian's National Zoo, Washington DC):

Cutest thing ever!

Toronto panda update!

I have been scouring the web for updates about the Canadian pandas, but it hasn't been as easy as I expected: I remember watching the Edinburgh pandas arrive on the BBC website on a live video feed. Toronto hasn't set up anything so simple. But anyway - they've arrived!

My favourite source is their new twitter feed @TorontoPandas

Here's some of the News Reports on it:

THE GLOBE AND MAIL

TIME NEWSFEED

CP24 (including video clips of the pandas landing in Canada!)

And here's the pandas leaving China:

Panda-y travels

After re-kindling my love pandas in Hong Kong, I started making plans to visit other pandas. So far, my travels have taken me to a couple of other places:

So far, my favourite was Madrid - the set up there is fantastic.

Where will my travels take me next? :)

Snowy photos

It's been amazingly cold this winter/spring. If it wasn't for the calendar then I probably wouldn't believe it's spring at all. I think we've only had one day above 10degC so far this year and it's been snowing all weekend.

Luckily for us, pandas get on "just fine" in the snow...

I love the snow!

Pandas due in Toronto

A pair of giant pandas, Er Shun and Da Mao, are currently in transit and due to arrive in Canada on Monday!

As with all pandas, they are on loan from China as part of their breeding and publicity program. They will spend ten years in Canada, with the first five years at Toronto Zoo and then moving to Calgary Zoo for the next five years.

Similar to the arrival of Tian Tian and Yang Guang in Edinburgh 15 months ago, the pandas will be transported by FedEx.

Tian Tian arriving at Edinburgh Airport. Picture from Chinese Embassy website.

Toronto Zoo has been renovating part of their site to make a specific enclosure for their new residents, including a new education centre about the giant pandas.

It will take about six weeks to settle the pandas, so they will be "on show" to the public in May. Check out the Toronto Zoo website for much more information.

Introduction

Hi there!

Welcome to a blog dedicated to pandas and panda-related paraphernalia from a mildly obsessive panda fan!

Madrid Zoo, 2012