john hawks weblog

paleoanthropology, genetics and evolution

Why don't they get it over with and domesticate them?

Wed, 2007-01-03 11:16 -- John Hawks

Pandas, of course. This article about the exceptional 2006 panda birth rate (217) is acccompanied by a photo of a half dozen flopping panda cubs in a pile. So CUUUUTE!

Bleaaah!

The fertility of captive giant pandas is even lower because they do not move much, experts said.

I mean, these animals are bent on extinction! Get this:

The animals' diet consists almost entirely of bamboo, but they will eat only about 20 of the 200 or so species that grow in Georgia. What type they like also varies by the time of year. Sometimes the pandas will eat nothing but one variety for a week, then refuse to eat it anymore. (Sound familiar, parents?)

Clearly, this is why parents with large families die younger! Their children are picky as pandas.

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