Animal of the Week: Giant Pandas

For my first Animal of the Week column, I would like to highlight the giant panda. Known by many as a "shitty animal," I still hold to the claim that pandas are adorable.

Yes, they may only eat bamboo, which has almost no nutritional value, and yes, some giant pandas have been known to endure freezing temperatures to eat a specific type of bamboo even though food is available nearby in warmer places (thank you Planet Earth). They also have to spend their days eating 20 to 30 pounds of bamboo because they are not actually built to digest bamboo so it does not give them much energy. And yes, this low energy diet has caused them to be lazy and limit their social interactions.

But come on! Just look at them! How many other animals are black and white and furry?

Ok, I have heard some claim that because they are lazy and refuse to reproduce in captivity, that pandas deserve to go extinct. Until recently, some scientists have given pandas Viagra and shown them panda porn to get their libido up so they will reproduce.

However, there is hope in increasing the panda population through artificial insemination. This past July, a panda was successfully born in China via artificial insemination. It was conceived from cryogenically frozen sperm, which gives hope to future artificial insemination births. This means that zoos all over the world can freeze their pandas' sperm, and they can share it with each other so there is no in breeding.

Yeah! Take that non-believers! Just because pandas don't have a sex drive, does not mean that they should not exist. If anything, their sheer cuteness should be enough to want to keep them around.

Take a look at some of the videos of pandas online. Isn't the one of the baby panda sneezing adorable? Not to mention the mama panda's reaction to the baby's sneeze. And what about panda having trouble going up on step? Sure, it has been deemed "the most pathetic baby panda ever," but it makes come very cute noises while it struggles up that step. And of course, there is the Panda Escape video, which is one of my all time favorite online videos. In this clip, one panda uses the other as a step stool to escape through a vent. It just goes to show you, pandas are smarter than you think.