Minion Birthday!

Today was the first birthday of the Virginia Zoo lion cubs. Their birthday cake was colored ice with meat frozen in the middle. They seemed to be most appreciative of their treat.

Baby Pandas?!?

There is a better than average chance that Yin at the Virginia Zoo is pregnant! Whoo baby pandas!!! This morning, her keeper was in her exhibit when I stopped by. She pulled out the baggie of grapes and coaxed Yin over for a snack. SHE GOT TO PET THE RED PANDA. I am so unbelievably jealous!!

She was checking to see if she could feel any babies...apparently Yin and Oscar got a bit frisky with each other a little bit ago (at the one time of the year red pandas go into heat). Seeing as there aren't any panda pregnancy tests at Rite-Aid, and the zoo thinks it would upset her fuzzyness to get an ultrasound, they check her little panda tummy.

The sheer level of adorable was almost fatal.

Red Pandas have Minions?

First on the Red Panda Minion list is the lions. The Virginia Zoo has two adult and four "cubs", I say "cubs" because they're fairly big now, kind of....teenage lions. The best part about lion watching (in between panda visits) is their behavior around small, screamy, prey things, AKA children.

You'll just be sittin' there, hanging out with the lions, when a small child comes running by, usually screaming or squealing, making quick darty movements. The lion in question will instantly go into "Hey! I bet you would taste fantastic!!" mode.

I find this highly amusing. (yes I'm twisted and probably going to hell) The parental lions have obviously figured out that they aren't getting any tasty little children so don't act particularly interested.

What is a Red Panda?

The Red Panda (Ailurus fulgens) also knows as the Lesser Panda, is about the same size as a large house cat (but cuter!). They hail from China, Burma and Nepal, and prefer to spend most of their lives up in trees, where other critters have to work harder to eat them.

Red Pandas live on a healthy diet of bamboo, fruit, eggs, insects and other small mammals. Those awesome fluffy tails? they use them to keep themselves warm on chilly mountain nights.

Unfortunately they're endangered, deforestation, competition from livestock and poaching have not been kind to these fluffballs. According to the National Zoo, there are less than 2500 adult red pandas remaining.

Fortunately, they do well in captivity, and captive breeding programs are proving to be moderately successful.

Why a Red Panda Cult?

Why make a Red Panda Cult?

Well, Red Panda's are, without a doubt, the cutest animals on our entire planet.

They also desperately need a better marketing department. Heck, Giant Panda's get all sorts of press, and all they do is eat, sleep and poop, the red ones climb trees, scamper about, and eat things other than bamboo!

So, welcome to my Cult of the Red Panda! I'll be primarily talking about The Virgina Zoo's pandas, Yin and Oscar as I go and visit with them pretty much every morning, with some brief forays into the lives of the minions of the red panda, aka, the other animals in the zoo.