…on the fragility of life, especially of baby pandas and all endangered species. Here at The Institute for Contemporary Panda Satire, we make a lot of fun of contemporary culture, society, politics, and, of course, pandas.
We paws to reflect on the passing of one of our joys and treasures, a newborn panda cub at the National Zoo in Washington DC. I have every confidence that the outstandingly talented panda team and panda mom extraordinaire Mei Xiang did everything they could to keep that little cub alive. I have no doubt that they will do the same to nurture and protect the surviving cub.
For today’s encore presentation, I share with you the drawing I did to commemorate the cub that did not survive, the year before Pinky Bao Bao’s birth in 2013. I am reminded that nature is sometimes cruel, or at least it seems that way.
goodbye my friend.
We will panda on, no matter what. We R All Endangered. You can follow the news about the NZ pandas on twitter, using the National Zoo’s special panda hashtag, #PandaStory.
Bob T Panda
Thank you for blessing us with your compassionate heart and caring soul Bob T. Panda. You’ve made this time much easier.
You’re welcome. I hope you like Sunday’s cartoon too. I am working on it now.
Our deepest sympathies for the loss of a friend you never met.
Thank you… Loss is the price of caring. We will go on, we will rejoice in the cub we still have. i am still on pins and needles, as the first week is the hardest. Mei is a good mama. I feel hopeful.
That drawing always breaks my heart
It is a masterpiece.
Thank you. I’m sorry I had the opportunity to show it again. We will get beyond this, not exactly over it, but beyond it so we can rejoice that there is a new panda life on the planet, and in DC. I am thinking of calling him Mr. Pookie.
I am going to miss that little boy sooooooo much….never having even given the chance to “know” him…..but only God knows best.
I take comfort in the knowledge that the survival rate of cubs born in captivity has improved so much over the last 10-15 years. We mourn each panda that doesn’t make it, but should celebrate the ones that do.
When I first saw this it took my breath away. A flash of colour, that sad panda face and the innocence of the flower bearing cub. It sums up the pain of grief so beautifully. But there is a new prince in town and my fingers are crossed for his survival. Pinky needs a younger brother to – um – I’m not sure what she’ll do but she deserves a baby brother!
It will be interesting to see how Pinky copes with a younger sibling. There’s a new smallest, cutest panda in town. We will let him get a little bigger before he appears very often in these pages. His existence is still not assured, but he is now a week old…Huzzah! I am very sad at the death of his twin, and very disappointed that I won’t get to see twin cubbies play together in person. I still hope to get to Atlanta to see the Meihems, but they are big girls now. I regret that I was not able to go see them when they were tiny cubbies. I did get to see both Wu and Pinky as babies. I look forward to meeting the newest arrival.
I hope the Aussie Pandas soon start having cubbies.
The boy cub is looking good. Still such a stressful time.
I’ve been checking the Adelaide Zoo for updates on Wang Wang & Fu Ni. I can’t wait for them to have cubbies!
Vicky V, is the Adelaide Zoo expecting Babes? Do they have a Panda Cam or another App I can purchase for my Android Cell.
And OMGoodness, you may have discovered my deepest darkest secret, and now Bob T. et al., will know. I thought my spirit animal was some sort of Otter. However, I am sensitive, determined and more than a little self-centered. I am pink and a little dangerous.
Ohe my goodness. My spirit animal might be The Darlingist, Darling of Them All,
ThePrincessPinkyIsAStar
You would be lucky to have her very Pinkest self as your totem animal. But beware. This path is filled with perils unimaginable. Just saying’.
Candy – I think there is an Adelaide Panda Cam but my computer doesn’t let me use it. Paul is looking into it!
No Adelaide announcements yet – but fingers crossed 🙂
If Princess Pinky is your Spirit Animal does that mean you will be running for President 2016?
Sad. 🙁
Yes.
I love the drawing. I cannot remember seeing it the first time around. You are truly talented, and I am so glad to count you as a friend. Panda on. 🙂
I looked at the date, and figured that I must have drawn this for the cub that Mei Xiang lost the year before Pinky was born. I am sad that it has had to make a repeat showing.
Panda on, Deb!