I was just reading about a standing panda called Futa in a Japanese Zoo - isn't it so typical of the culture to come up with such a 'kawai' stunt? - and it got to the last part where it said that Futa had a female panda mate and that hopefully they were going to have babies soon.
Which made me think about zoo breeding programs. I think they're risky but well intentioned, if zoos keep swapping animals, they'll soon be mating cousins which would severely limit the gene pool and remove all hope of ever being able to reintroduce the entire species into the wild. Your grandchildren will be able to see the great grandchildren of the animals you were introduced to as Kiki the 500-lb orangutan and Darth Maul the kite simply because if they tried to kick them outta the zoo, they'd die out.
From the animal's point of view this is where it might suck a little. I think the reason that breeding programs take so long to work is because the fe/male is probably hideous. It's like playing desert island where you're one of the last two survivors and to get some action you'd have to do the ugliest guy/girl imaginable, and s/he probably smells funny too. Can you imagine the pressure you're under to even get it going? That's cruel and you've got to be really really desperate to want to make babies, which is why it probably takes them so long to conceive.
Yes, I know I have a huge paper in a few hours. I also know nothing which leaves me in a bad state and thinking about the reproductive incentives of zoo animals.
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