The Trial of Tony Blair. Big Brother. The BBC Licence fee. All issues clearly warranting attention in a blog that claims to deal with the important topics in journalism.
But I just can’t help bringing your attention to a most wonderful article I read today:
(From The Guardian/Reuters)
Podgy panda slims down for long-awaited love
A male panda at Chiang Mai zoo has been put on a diet to avoid squashing his partner during sex. Chuang Chuang weighs 150kg (23.5 stone) and is too big for 115kg Lin Hui. The zoo’s project chief, Prasertsek Buntrakoonpoontawee, said that male pandas should weigh 30kg less than their partners. The pair have been at the zoo since 2003 but show little inclination to mate. The diet includes few bamboo stems, and more bamboo leaves which are harder to chew. When Chuang Chuang hits the required weight, he will be shown videos of pandas mating to get him in the mood.
Wow. If today was April 1st, I’d be applauding a great little April Fools joke – but then maybe criticising it for being so obviously made up.
It raises three questions.
1) When did pandas stop wanting to have sex?
2) Who’s out there selling panda porn to zoos?
3) How do you get a surname like Buntrakoonpoontawee?
(For the record: The Trial of Tony Blair was brilliant, the Big Brother debate very much out of proportion, and the licence fee would remain great value for money even if it were £200 a year. But, I can see the logic in capping the increase.)
