JAPAN: A couple of red pandas at a zoo in Japan discover the joys of deep kissing

A couple of aging red pandas -- also known as lesser pandas, give up on mating and instead take to french kissing. Long gone are the child bearing days of Yuyu and Yuyu, two red pandas who share the same name (pron: you-you) but are not spelled with the same Chinese characters. But that hasn't stopped the furry pair - also known as lesser pandas -- from discovering a strong mutual bond. Unlike younger red pandas which are solitary and usually only mingle during breeding season, these two are inseparable. After eight years of cohabitation and unsuccessful mating in the same cage at the Kawasaki Yumemigaoka zoo (pron: Kah-wah-sah-kee You-may-mee-gah-oh-kah) located west of Tokyo, the two red pandas began this year to show obvious and very ardent displays of public affection. On Thursday (November 1), it started after a hearty morning meal of bamboo leaves and was initiated by the 14-year old male Yuyu, who's name is composed of two Chinese characters meaning "male". The 12-year old female Yuyu, who's two characters both mean "friend", however, soon got into the mood and took over to plunge in for a deep kiss. After an hour lip-lock session, with some kisses lasting as long as ten minutes, the two settled down for a long nap. The species is known to live on average for about 10 years, so both of them are past their prime. But this, zoo keepers say, has not prevented them from going through this ritual twice daily for the past ten months. "They have got on together well for years so the fact that they are kissing frequently even though their mating season is over, we have to assume that it comes from a love that has grown between them," added Minoru Nagasawa, director of Kawasaki Yumemigasaki Zoo. While some people would have seen, if they had been human teenagers, all this kissing as very much animal behavior; spectators on Thursday were delighted and in the throes of a lesser panda-monium. "I don't know what animals exactly feel but I believe that kissing must sort of be an expression of their love," said Tomoo Tanaka, a 75-year visitor on Thursday. "I find it healing just watching them kissing. They seem very close," added Michiko Harada, 33-year old visitor who came with her children. "Look, they are kissing. Its a love scene!" squealed a cackle of kindergarten children, mesmerised by the adult behavior in front of them. Red pandas are crespucular - meaning they are active mostly in the mornings and evenings; spending most of the day curled up asleep - much like the female Yuyu's younger and very much ignored sister, Minmin. And though not technically the kissing cousins with the better known giant pandas, the red pandas, which are closer to weasels than bears, share the same fondness for a bamboo diet and a home across southern China and the foot mountains of the Himalayas. The admission-free municipal zoo, however, is not pandering for extra business as the pandas' puckers comes at no extra charge.

ITN Source | November 5, 2007

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