Feb 21
The men's gold medalist, Mikhail Shaidorov, did his king fu panda routine at the gala. (Jackie Chan was there!) But the funniest part was he still had the costume on for the group number at the end.
seen from United Kingdom
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from T1
seen from Canada
seen from United States
seen from Malaysia
seen from Yemen
seen from Brazil
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from China
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from United Kingdom
seen from Maldives
seen from Austria
seen from United Kingdom
seen from United States
The men's gold medalist, Mikhail Shaidorov, did his king fu panda routine at the gala. (Jackie Chan was there!) But the funniest part was he still had the costume on for the group number at the end.
this just came in today
The Giant Panda - The Orion Magazine - by Kathleen Yale | The Orion Magazine - Animalia - Bestiary | 16th/01/2024 (Winter 2023 Issue)
On Romantic Malaise
THE ROMANTIC WOES of captive giant pandas (Ailuropoda Melanoleuca) are legendary. Picture it: the iconic emblem of wildlife conservation in pudgy silhouette, idly munching through a pile of bamboo. Nearby, a frenzied cadre of international matchmakers armed with round-the-clock cameras, urine test kits, and stacks of money are desperate for offspring, adorable babies for adorable memes. The fate of the species hangs in the balance. What may at first sound like a win-win scenario can be, for all parties, an uphill climb: females ovulate just once a year for only a few days, and captive males are often game-less bumblers who have literally no idea what they’re doing.
Recent research indicates one explanation for their reproductive underperforming comes down to a simple lack of attraction. In the wild, a female panda has the opportunity to choose between prospective suitors based on a range of alluring qualities and competitive male feats. But orchestrated captive breeding tends to overlook romantic chemistry in favor of preferred genetic outcomes in a dating pool of one, even employing such extreme measures as bear Viagra and panda porn to set the mood. Can we really fault them for not rising to the occasion?
Experiments show captive panda pairs were more than twice as likely to make babies if the female was given a choice of partner. Turns out that even on the edge of extinction, some of us maintain our standards.
Bestiary is a micro-column that offers reflections on animals and ourselves.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This piece is from Orion’s Winter 2023 Issue, Romance in the Climate Crisis. Special thanks to the NRDC for their generous funding of this issue.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Panda Power
How does this species survive in the wild?
😄😄😄😄
~~~Remember ‘24
We wave goodbye to the end of the beginning ~~~
Solar farm in china 🇨🇳 🐼
Glad I could help! 🐼🐼🐼 https://homespacecrafts.etsy.com/listing/1684392756
I have special pricing for school events, bike rodeos, and bike fairs!