Cutest Baby Panda

[LynneSin]

As you know - there were 2 baby pandas born this past summer - one at the San Diego Zoo and the other at the National Zoo in Washington DC.

A flurry of Pandacam Mania swept through the lounge as DUers neglected reality in order to watch Mothers & their babies bond on live TV.

So my question is this: Who is the cutest baby Panda? Neither of them have name (Chinese Tradition is to name the babies 100days after their birth).

National Zoo Baby Panda Boy:

His mom & dad are Mei Xiang and Tian Tian of the National Zoo:

Watch National Zoo Panda here:
http://nationalzoo.si.edu/Animals/GiantPandas/

San Diego Zoo Baby Panda Girl:

Her mom & dad are Bai Yun and Gao Gao:
and
Watch San Diego Panda here:
http://www.sandiegozoo.org/zoo/ex_panda_station.html

So, in a couple of years will these 2 kids hook up and have babies of their own?

[StopTheMorans]

1. they're all ugly; they have faces only a mother could love

:thumbsdown:

[LynneSin]

2. Oh, I hope you have your flame retardant suit

:popcorn:

[StopTheMorans]

3. mindless group-think directed towards worship of animals has no appeal

for me whatsoever. flame away, it will save me the trouble of finding the people who should be on my ignorelist on my own :nuke:

[Lisa0825]

4. Both are adorable!

:loveya: me love ALL pandas! :loveya:

[LynneSin]

5. I'm going to have to cruise out to the zoo when I'm in San Diego

just to see the Panda!

[nutsnberries]

6. i'm voting for the boy because

i'm in love with him. :loveya:

i saw Mei Xiang and Tian Tian last summer and when i heard on the news in July that they had a cub i tuned in and have been watching the Panda Cam ever since... well, whenever i'm near my laptop. I keep a window up with it all the time. It's the Panda Truman Show over here.

In a few days they'll announce his name and I hope it's the one I voted for :P (and i'll stop calling him PhatButt) and I hope I get a chance to see him before he's shipped off to China. :cry:

He's a beautiful little guy. I would LOVE to hug him just once!

[LynneSin]

7. They're sending him back to China

:cry:

I was hoping for a long distance romance between him and the baby panda girl in San Diego!

[nutsnberries]

8. i'd like that too but

here's from the National Zoo FAQ:

What will happen with any offspring?

Any baby born to Mei Xiang and Tian Tian would belong to China, and the Zoo would likely return the baby to China once it's old enough, so that it could become part of the breeding population there.

...

somewhere else on the National Zoo site or elsewhere maybe, I've read that that will probably occur when he's 18 months to 2 years old. Pandas are fairly solitary animals, sometimes staying in small groups. It's typical for a baby to go off on its own around that time. I think the cub's grandparents are in China at the Wolong Reserve.

With any luck and probably some help, Mei Xiang and Tian Tian will have other cubs. It makes sense for the population for the cubs to go back to China, but I really hope I'll be able to read about him online -Maybe catch a picture of his seriously cute self now and then!

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

9. To spice this poll up you have to say the loser panda will be drowned!

MUHAHAHA

[LynneSin]

11. or adopted by a Free Republic family

:crazy:

[nutsnberries]

12. aaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA !!!

no! don't even say it!

:yoiks:

[redqueen]

10. Well, I voted "don't make me choose"

But now that I've looked at the girl panda, I wish I'd voted for her. Something about her eye coloring is just too adorable!