Pandas, Real and Mock

During Steve's visit to Hong Kong in May, we took a trip to Ocean Park where they have a 'Panda Environment'. This is the entrance to the giant panda's home:


Inside, we saw these magnificent animals doing the thing they love doing, second best (eating is the first thing):

I'm really not one for animals in captivity, but the earthquake in Sichuan province has posed a terrible threat to the panda community. Some years back, after a less severe earthquake, the bamboo plant (which panda's thrive on) burst into bloom and died off. The fear is that this will happen again. And with only approximately 1,500 pandas left in the wild, breeding programmes in captivity could well be the difference between this species surviving, or not.

I wasn't allowed to leave until Steve captured me sporting a panda headband :)