[Nettime-bold] panda porn

[Pit Schultz <pit@klubradio.de>]

cinematic zoo politics

>>
Mei Xiang and Tian Tian may be the most closely watched pandas in the
world, with 20 cameras trained on them 24 hours a day. [Military]
Motion sensors strategically placed throughout the panda
house, inside and out, can detect their every move. Microphones pick
up every bleat or chirp. All the super surveillance is to help
National Zoo researchers track the pandas' behavior and gain a better
understanding of how they interact, eat, breed and handle stress. The
ultimate goal is to determine how these endangered creatures can move
from captivity back to the wild. The National Zoo will share its
findings with the zoos in Atlanta and San Diego as well as with
Chinese panda researchers.
<<

(watch at night, realplayer needed)
http://animal.discovery.com/cams/panda.ram

>>
The Chinese regard breeding pandas as a point of national pride.
They report that nearly half are "getting in the mood" after seeing
the [panda bear porn] films. Managers in Berlin zoo have already
announced plans to copy the Chinese tactic after five years of fruitless
attempts to get Yan Yan, a panda on loan from China, interested in mating
with Bao Bao, the resident bear. She was supposed to be returned to China
earlier this year, but Berlin's mayor Eberhard Diepgen personally arranged for
her to stay longer in an effort to produce an offspring. But Yan Yan
has only another couple of months in Germany - and getting her and Bao
Bao excited with videos of perky pandas performing in the wild may be
the last chance for success. Berlin zoologist Dr Ragnar Rilke said
the idea of showing the videos in the zoo would certainly do no harm.
However, other panda-watchers say that Yan Yan is just too old to
arouse Bao Bao's interest, even with the help of the videos. They say
panda porn is not the answer and want the Chinese to send him a
younger partner to stimulate his interest.
<<



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