Black & White & Loved

I have loved pandas my entire life.  I got a stuffed panda when I was four who was nearly as tall as I was (remember, I have always been short!) and I aptly named him, 'Panda'.  I currently have two stuffed pandas in Edinburgh. Both were gifts - one I brought with me (his name is 'Little One' because he is wee and came in the panda adoption kit from WWF that Matthew gave me for Christmas a few years ago) and one I was given as a good-bye gift from the zoo.

Working at Edinburgh Zoo was so amazing because I got to go see the pandas on my lunch break.  A daily hit of my favourite, endangered, adorable animal?  Yes, please!  I could just stroll in and be like,   " 'Sup, Tian Tian?"  I still watch Tian Tian over Edinburgh Zoo's pandacam.  I also stalk the Smithsonian and San Diego Zoo's panda webcams.

One day the Smithsonian webcam offered me up this treat:

I feel that this sums up in a nutshell why I love pandas so much.  He was tired and decided a faceplant nap was in order.  He stayed like this for ages!

Tian Tian at Edinburgh Zoo is easily my favouritest panda, though.  I give you this video in which she proves that fully grown pandas can be every bit as adorable as their cubs:

And there you have it.  The Giant Panda: Black and White and Loved all over the world. :)



P.S.  If you, too would like to become a panda stalker, these links will help:
http://www.edinburghzoo.org.uk/pandacam.html
http://www.sandiegozoo.org/pandacam/index.html
(They have a panda cub!  Squeee!)
http://nationalzoo.si.edu/Animals/GiantPandas/ 
(The Smithsonian one is particularly great because the camera moves and follows the pandas around and also shows them sleeping at night)