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How panda porn is helping ‘educate’ Giant Pandas who would rather eat bamboo shoots and enjoy me-time
According to the World Wildlife Fund, there are just over 1,800 pandas left in the wild. Giant pandas are generally solitary and reach sexual maturity at 5.5 to 6.5 years.
Ying Ying and Le Le, a Giant Panda couple at Ocean Park, Hong Kong, have successfully managed to mate for the first time in over 10 years of cohabiting the theme park. Giant Pandas, notoriously perceived as lacking libido, love their solitary time and would rather prefer munching on bamboo shoots than copulating. This year seems to have brought a wave of good news amidst the coronavirus pandemic spread and the lockdown that has followed. Social distancing has ensured that humans stay atleast 6 feet away from one another, unless you are living with your partner and are taking all the necessary precautions.
The theme park closed down on January 26 due to the COVID-19 lockdown, giving the 14-year-old panda couple some days of alone time to get to know each other better. Mating season for pandas is in the springtime between March and May.
The pandas’ sex-drive could have been further dampened due to constant scrutiny of human beings - park employees, visitors and more.
Posting on the theme park’s official Facebook account, Ocean Park said, “[Good News from Giant Panda Ying Ying & Le Le] Ying Ying and her long-standing sweetheart Le Le succeeded in natural mating today! This is the first success since the cute couple began attempts at natural mating 9 years ago (from 2011). The Park’s veterinary and animal care teams have been closely monitoring the giant pandas’ body conditions and behavioural changes, hoping to bring wonderful pregnancy news to you all. Let’s leave a emoji in the comment section to send your blessing to our lovable Ying Ying and Le Le! (sic)”
In their natural habitat it’s easier for female pandas to choose their ‘man’ unlike in captivity when they’re either mated with pandas from other zoos or artificially inseminated (a probably effective but completely unromantic way to get pregnant).
One of the reasons Ying Ying and Le Le did not gravitate towards one another over the past many years of knowing one another could be due to their captive status, which didn’t naturally result in them choosing one another.
According to Ocean Park, the pair began leaving “scent markings” around their enclosure last month.
Porn for pandas:
Even though male pandas prefer their solitude and bamboo shoots, the WWF says that “long-term studies have shown that wild panda populations can have reproductive rates comparable to some American black bear populations, which are thriving.”
According to a National Geographic report, “Wild pandas are so reclusive that it is extremely difficult for scientists to study their natural reproductive habits. Their solitary nature could mean that even some wild animals are unsure of themselves with the opposite sex. As a result, captive panda breeding has been historically difficult. Yet over the past decade, international facilities have acquired a lot of hard-earned knowledge to increase the odds.”
Back in 2006, Thailand’s Chiang Mai Zoo was home to Chuang Chuang and Lin Hui. Nat Geo said, “Chuang Chuang will view films of other mating pandas when scientists judge him to be relaxed and receptive—perhaps just after a tasty dinner. If all goes well, the racy video will be both instructional and inspirational, showing Chuang Chuang the reproductive ropes and causing him to see five-year-old Lin Hui in an entirely different light.”
This video explains this process of Panda pornography further, throwing light on conservation efforts at large to help increase the number of Giant Pandas in the world:
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