This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/sep/15/panda-edinburgh-tian-pregnancy
The article has changed 3 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| Poked, prodded and live on the pandacam. Can't a girl get any peace in the zoo? | Poked, prodded and live on the pandacam. Can't a girl get any peace in the zoo? |
| (1 day later) | |
| Will she? Won't she? As the window begins to close on the time allotted for Edinburgh zoo's female giant panda to give birth, the city is in a frightful ferment. At some point this week Jim White, Sky Sports' prince of the football transfer window, will surely be summoned to preside over a celebrity arrival. If by the following weekend it emerges that it was a phantom pregnancy all along, then who cares? The period of Tian Tian's alleged confinement has brought out the crowds, and another chunk of the £700,000 annual rental for Tian Tian and her mate, Yang Guang, has been repaid to China. | Will she? Won't she? As the window begins to close on the time allotted for Edinburgh zoo's female giant panda to give birth, the city is in a frightful ferment. At some point this week Jim White, Sky Sports' prince of the football transfer window, will surely be summoned to preside over a celebrity arrival. If by the following weekend it emerges that it was a phantom pregnancy all along, then who cares? The period of Tian Tian's alleged confinement has brought out the crowds, and another chunk of the £700,000 annual rental for Tian Tian and her mate, Yang Guang, has been repaid to China. |
| On the live webcam on Edinburgh zoo's official website on Friday night you could only get pre-recorded footage of Tian Tian and her mate joking around together. "We still think Yang Guang is reacting to Tian Tian's hormones and chemical cues and is a bit unwell and tired at the moment," the website states by way of explanation. "Our veterinary team are keeping an eye on him and we're continuing to give him the choice to be off show." | On the live webcam on Edinburgh zoo's official website on Friday night you could only get pre-recorded footage of Tian Tian and her mate joking around together. "We still think Yang Guang is reacting to Tian Tian's hormones and chemical cues and is a bit unwell and tired at the moment," the website states by way of explanation. "Our veterinary team are keeping an eye on him and we're continuing to give him the choice to be off show." |
| Such an enlightened approach to panda self-governance melts the hardest of hearts. | Such an enlightened approach to panda self-governance melts the hardest of hearts. |
| "Big man, are you in or oot today?" | "Big man, are you in or oot today?" |
| "A'm in, so will you just give me peace and switch off that 'effin panda cam?" | "A'm in, so will you just give me peace and switch off that 'effin panda cam?" |
| It would be surprising if "off colour" is all a panda feels after being shunted between zoos for years before being gawped at by millions of we idiot punters in his tiny detention centre. They should check the big chap out after another eight years of this torture has elapsed. By then he'll be doing the Gangnam Style in his madness. | It would be surprising if "off colour" is all a panda feels after being shunted between zoos for years before being gawped at by millions of we idiot punters in his tiny detention centre. They should check the big chap out after another eight years of this torture has elapsed. By then he'll be doing the Gangnam Style in his madness. |
| Just after 10am on Saturday around 40 of us gathered in the panda enclosure, having been told that Tian Tian was up and about. And there she was, circumnavigating her rocky enclave again and again. She has been due "any day now" for the last month since first showing signs of being pregnant. The reason why no one can be sure is that she won't let anyone near enough for an ultrasound, and knocking her out is not considered a viable option. Her forced artificial insemination, performed solely for maximising the beasties' marketability, occurred in April. According to Jim, the Visitor Experience chap, her keepers now believe that implantation (pandas practise delayed implantation, where the egg won't implant into the uterus for some time after conception) occurred later than they had previously thought. | Just after 10am on Saturday around 40 of us gathered in the panda enclosure, having been told that Tian Tian was up and about. And there she was, circumnavigating her rocky enclave again and again. She has been due "any day now" for the last month since first showing signs of being pregnant. The reason why no one can be sure is that she won't let anyone near enough for an ultrasound, and knocking her out is not considered a viable option. Her forced artificial insemination, performed solely for maximising the beasties' marketability, occurred in April. According to Jim, the Visitor Experience chap, her keepers now believe that implantation (pandas practise delayed implantation, where the egg won't implant into the uterus for some time after conception) occurred later than they had previously thought. |
| The gestation period for a giant panda baby is 55 days, and the thought occurs that she might give birth any time now. Exhibiting typical male queasiness at the prospect of anything gynaecological, I am eager to beat a hasty retreat. Surely she'll be spared the indignity of having 40-odd human gawpers observing her birth pangs? This is doubtful though, as it seems that no humiliation is considered too abject in maintaining this black-and-white freak show. Already she's been poked, prodded and knocked up by a syringe. A visit by Keith Lemon must surely beckon. | The gestation period for a giant panda baby is 55 days, and the thought occurs that she might give birth any time now. Exhibiting typical male queasiness at the prospect of anything gynaecological, I am eager to beat a hasty retreat. Surely she'll be spared the indignity of having 40-odd human gawpers observing her birth pangs? This is doubtful though, as it seems that no humiliation is considered too abject in maintaining this black-and-white freak show. Already she's been poked, prodded and knocked up by a syringe. A visit by Keith Lemon must surely beckon. |
| It's difficult though to get too censorious about humans who want to gaze at her misery in a glass prison. One young mum said: "My daughter was given a book about pandas by her teacher and so we've been preparing for this big day out ever since." Who would cavil at an eternal childhood memory for a little girl? | It's difficult though to get too censorious about humans who want to gaze at her misery in a glass prison. One young mum said: "My daughter was given a book about pandas by her teacher and so we've been preparing for this big day out ever since." Who would cavil at an eternal childhood memory for a little girl? |
| It was revealed last week that pandas are causing a diplomatic row in Belgium after it was decided that two bears due to be sent from China will reside in the French-speaking part of the country and not the Dutch-speaking region. From now on it will be much easier to answer that pesky pub quiz question: name a famous Belgian other than Hercule Poirot and Tintin. | It was revealed last week that pandas are causing a diplomatic row in Belgium after it was decided that two bears due to be sent from China will reside in the French-speaking part of the country and not the Dutch-speaking region. From now on it will be much easier to answer that pesky pub quiz question: name a famous Belgian other than Hercule Poirot and Tintin. |
| If Edinburgh zoo were genuinely concerned with the future health and welfare of giant pandas, its £700,000 a year might more usefully have been invested in the World Wildlife Fund's adopt-a-panda scheme. The WWF points out on its website that as few as 1,600 of the beasts remain in the wild, and that monthly donations will provide the funds to create "green corridors" linking isolated pandas. The money would also assist efforts to protect the species from poaching and help to curb the illegal logging of the panda's surrounding habitat. | If Edinburgh zoo were genuinely concerned with the future health and welfare of giant pandas, its £700,000 a year might more usefully have been invested in the World Wildlife Fund's adopt-a-panda scheme. The WWF points out on its website that as few as 1,600 of the beasts remain in the wild, and that monthly donations will provide the funds to create "green corridors" linking isolated pandas. The money would also assist efforts to protect the species from poaching and help to curb the illegal logging of the panda's surrounding habitat. |
| Giant pandas are one of the least fecund mammals in the world, and a mating pair will only have concupiscence for a brief few moments inside a two-hour window, so they were always going to feel at home in Scotland's capital. If Tian Tian has twins, she will devote all her attention to one while rejecting the other. In Scotland it's called the private school system. | Giant pandas are one of the least fecund mammals in the world, and a mating pair will only have concupiscence for a brief few moments inside a two-hour window, so they were always going to feel at home in Scotland's capital. If Tian Tian has twins, she will devote all her attention to one while rejecting the other. In Scotland it's called the private school system. |
| If Tian Tian does give birth, my wish for her new baby is that Scotland retains the naming rights. Having wretchedly agreed to give the cub to China as part of the pre-nup, the least we can do is to ensure that there is some corner of a foreign bamboo field that will be forever Scottish. The child must be called Tam. Jean if it's a girl. | If Tian Tian does give birth, my wish for her new baby is that Scotland retains the naming rights. Having wretchedly agreed to give the cub to China as part of the pre-nup, the least we can do is to ensure that there is some corner of a foreign bamboo field that will be forever Scottish. The child must be called Tam. Jean if it's a girl. |
| Our editors' picks for the day's top news and commentary delivered to your inbox each morning. | |
| Our editors' picks for the day's top news and commentary delivered to your inbox each morning. Enter your email address to subscribe. | |
| Our editors' picks for the day's top news and commentary delivered to your inbox every weekday. |