It has been an exciting week in pandyland…the Giant Panda Zoo Award winners were announced, (Princess Pinky: WHAT do you MEAN I din’t win? i demand a recount!!!!!) and San Diego Zoo’s current number one son is now home alone as his brother (the former number one son) has headed to a new destiny in China.
I couldn’t resist one last farewell scene.
Get out your hankies.
Leaving the nest is never easy.
Coming soon, exiting news from The Panda Chronicles in support of Pandas International!
And in other Panda Satire news….Those who receive my newsletter (what? you mean you haven’t subscribed yet? Go up to the form that says: Get Even More Pandas, put ‘cher email address in there and then you’ll know before everyone else!) know that I am working on a cookbook with author and Che de Cuppycake Vicky Vladic! She is writing (and testing!) the recipes and I will be doing the illustrations. We don’t know exactly when it will be finished, but you might want to up your cuppycake consumption, so you will be ready when The Panda Chronicles Cuppycake Cookbook hits the shelves of your local and virtual bookstores.
Be the Bear,
Bob T. Panda
I just ordered from pandas international, helpful, exactly what I wanted. Read their background story and go shopping! Thanks for the cartoon. Kleenex a little wet.
I haven’t announced it yet, but in February, all books sold from my Amazon or Createspace sites will generate a contribution for Pandas International from me. I will also have book 4 coming out in late February or early March. It is The Book of Wu, where I have made a collection of all my Wu comics together for the first time!
Just um… make sure you DON’T grab the Vicks-infused tissues to wipe your eyes!! OUCH!! Still, as sad as it is for Yunnie to go, he’s got important panda work he has to do in his homeland and pandas need him more than us humans do
I know, I know…The survival of pandas is more important than our personal attachment, but….anyway we expect great things from young master Yun Zi in his new life. he seems to be adapting very well indeed. I’ll keep in mind the warning about Vicks infused tissues. I didn’t even know there was such a ting.
Yes, there are Vicks-infused tissues and they are marvelous! Much needed when I saw that Wu-Self is being weaned and will have his own yard in 2-3 weeks! He’s such a big boy now!
Oh they can’t be weaning him yet! Does Bai want that now? Our baby still needs his miwk!
I am SO not ready for Mr Wu to be a big boy yet. I’m guessing if they want to try for one more baby brother or sister, he will have to be weaned soon. Oh, I can’t even say that and not get weepy.
Actually, come to think of it, one of my nieces was 3 and still nursing, but they wanted her weaned. So one day she asks: mommy can I nurse? And mommy said no, to which the little girl’s reply was “damn!” I guess if they are old enough to swear….
Seems reasonable to me!
Hey, I never realized that the little guys don’t use capital letters! This is so sweet, love Wu’s sad expression. But will we in fact hear any news about Yunnie now and then?
In the real world, I think reports of Yunnie’s transition to a panda of the world have been coming in and he’s doing well. Now in the Panda Chronicles, all things are possible, and I think we have not seen the last of Wu’s big brother. I think he gets his own mephone, once he’s settled in to pandyland. You may have noticed that Babette de Panda speaks in cursive.
Yes I did notice that about Babette!
Who, by the way, has been bugging me about a more major role in one of our extended series….stay tuned!
I started weeping when he left his cap behind. But the dam broke with the “he’s talking in capital letters” line. Beautiful and heart wrenching. Looking forward to Mr Wu becoming an uncle 🙂
Must mop up the tears with Cuppycakes.
don’t let the cuppycakes get all soggy, now….
What do you plan to do now that da Wu-Self is being weaned from Mama and if Bai wants to, and can (iffy due to her age), that Wu-Self may be a big brother?
Pandas in China need Yunnie more than I do… I’ll tell myself that next time I am in San Diego!!
I have to admit to very mixed feelings. I am not ready for Mr Wu to grow up, and while I welcome a new cubby in San Diego (since it’s the closest zoo to where I live, that has resident pandas,) I’m not ready for Mr. Wu to be weaned or to be a big brother. But if Gao Gao’s recent handstand practice is any indication, he is still ready to be the ultimate panda stud muffin and show those other boys how it’s done. Well, I guess I’m just going to have to be brave and pull up my big bear panties and see what happens next.
I read that all Bai’s cubs were weaned about the same age as Wu-Self. The zoo said last year that Gao Gao tried to scale the walls to get to Bai, so who knows. They said they aren’t expecting more cubs, but if Bai wants to, they’ll mate them again.
I saw a picture of Tian Tian’s *ahem* technique while at NZ last weekend and um… Gao Gao needs to have a talk with him. He has ALL FOUR FEET on Mei’s back!
But I’m not ready!!! Oh. Yeah. I know, I know, It’s not about ME.
As to TianTian’s “technique” there was a very amusing and informative article about this in The New Yorker last fall….I’m thinking it was some time in October? Gao Gao should do a “How to” video for…um…pretty much all the other American residence pandas.
The New Yorker article said that Mei and Tian Tian are, um, “reproductively incompetant”. She is to blame also, since she does not, ah, lift up her rear end.
Sniff…oh they always blame the woman, don’t they?…sniffle snorf. What does the New Yorker know about pandas?
LOL I have that article saved! I agree, it doesn’t help that Mei does a “pancake” but… Tian Tian…all four feet?! Really?! *Shakes head*
I’m sooo not ready for a Big Boy Mr Wu and this comic still makes me cry!
When I read the article, it was hard to know whether to guffaw shamelessly, or feel insulted on Tian Tian’s behalf. I think I did both.
Neither am I ready for Mr. Wu to go off to “the big boy room” recently vacated by his big brother…though the possibility of another cubby in San Diego IS appealing. I think we can expect more from Mr. Wu on the subject.
‘He’s talking in capital letters…’ Those little things that only your mum would notice. Beautiful….
I don’t remember when I started having the panda kindergarten and all the other cubbies talk in lower case printing. It just made sense to me one day, and I started doing it. Leave it to Bai Yun to notice that her boy was growing up. Thank you for your comment. Be the bear!