Researchers now think pandas’ notoriously low libido is because they are too comfortable to make the effort to search for a mate.
研究人员现在认为：熊猫众所周知的性欲低下，是由于它们生活得太过安逸，所以不愿花力气寻找伴侣。
In modern animal welfare research, three main views of animal welfare have been identified by Fraser: (1) basic health and functioning, (2) natural living, and (3) affective states.
在现代动物福利研究中，弗雷泽学者确定了动物福利的三种主要观点：（1）基本健康和身体功能，（2）自然生活，（3）情感状态。
Name: Panda sex.
名称：熊猫性爱
Age: 18m years old.
历史：距今1800万年
Frequency: Famously rare.
频率：非常罕见
Yes, why is that? If I were a panda, I’d be at it all the time.
是这样的，为什么呢？如果我是一只熊猫，我会一直为爱鼓掌。
I think from this we can determine two things: first that you are a pervert, and second that you are unhappy.
Hey, I’m not unhappy!
嘿，我没有不开心！
Maybe you have more in common with pandas than you thought. Researchers have posited that the notoriously low panda libido might be down to simple contentment.
How so?
怎会如此呢？
Well, a study published in Conservation Biology has suggested that if pandas find the perfect habitat – in this instance a cool, moderately low-lying area rich with bamboo and far from humans – then they will just happily settle down and not go anywhere.
Who can blame them? That sounds perfect.
谁又能责怪它们呢？这听起来太完美了。
Well, the worry is that by staying in the same area, they aren’t going out to search for food or mates, which reduces their genetic diversity, which will eventually lead to their extinction.
So you’re saying that pandas prefer comfortable solitude to sex?
所以你是说熊猫更喜欢舒适的孤独而不是两人的欢愉？
Yes.
是的。
And it’s possible to be so comfortable that you might take down your entire species?
Yes.
是的。
Am … am I a panda?
我是一只熊猫吗?
If you are, I have to commend your ability to type so accurately with your great big paws.
Do scientists want to make pandas less comfortable?
To some extent, yes. The researchers have found that the ideal level of comfort to keep the pandas alive is 80%.
Why 80%?
为什么是80%呢？
Because then they are comfortable enough to thrive, but there’s still enough dissatisfaction to make them leave home, bump into a sexy panda stranger and get it on.
Great! Job sorted.
很好!工作到位。
Well, that’s only step one. Even if two pandas were to clap eyes on each other and instantly fall in love, it doesn’t mean that we would hear the pitter patter of tiny paws any time soon. Remember the story of Tian Tian?
Tian Tian?
甜甜？
Yes, one of the UK’s only two giant pandas, leased to Edinburgh zoo a decade ago by the Bifengxia breeding centre in Sichuan, China. The lease runs out in December, and Tian Tian has failed to give birth.
Why?
这是为什么呢？
Sometimes it just doesn’t happen. She had cubs in China, only to endure a number of failed pregnancies – some initiated by artificial insemination – in Edinburgh. Things went further downhill when her partner, Yang Guang, had his testicles removed, after a tumour was discovered.
God, that’s sad.
天呐，真是令人伤心。
Is it? Or is she just so happy that she has rejected sex as a concept?
There’s a moral here, isn’t there?
这里还有深意，对吗？
Yes. It’s that it’s OK if personal contentment is more important to you than romantic love. And also that pandas are seemingly determined to make themselves extinct.
The signature challenge in breeding pandas
培育大熊猫的标志性挑战
The challenge is the absurdly short period of time that females are receptive to mating. Lasting a maximum of two days and sometimes as short as 36 hours, the window of opportunity is narrow. Equally frustrating, zoo keepers and staff never know when this elusive window will occur—and if they miss it, they’re out of luck until next spring.
挑战在于，雌性接受交配的时间短得离谱。最多持续两天，有时短至36小时，窗口稍纵即逝。同样令人沮丧的是，动物园的饲养员和工作人员永远不知道这个难以捉摸的时机会在什么时候出现--一旦错过，明年春天之前，他们就别想再有机会培育了。
Panda breeders have devised a number of methods to figure out when that window is occurring. First, they measure hormones in panda urine. They also look out for telltale signs: Typically, the female advertises her readiness by rubbing sexy secretions from her anal glands onto tree trunks, rocks, or on the ground.
熊猫饲养员已经设计了一些方法来弄清这个窗口的发生时间。首先，他们会测量熊猫尿液中的荷尔蒙。他们还注意到了一些提示迹象。通常情况下，雌性熊猫会将其肛门腺的性感分泌物涂抹在树干、岩石或地面上，以此来宣传其准备情况。
PANDAS "IN LOVE" ARE MORE LIKELY TO HAVE CUBS
“恋爱”中的熊猫可能怀更多的孩子
Pandas will have more babies if they can pick their mates. While studying captive pandas at the Chengdu Panda Base, A researcher noticed that many panda couples chosen as genetic matches didn’t hit it off. When arranged panda pairs happened to like each other, they would make goat-like bleating sounds, and females would make a chirp as a “come hither” call.
如果熊猫能够挑选自己的配偶，它们会怀更多的孩子。在研究成都熊猫基地的圈养熊猫时，一位研究员注意到，许多被选为基因配对的熊猫夫妇并不合拍。当安排好的熊猫夫妇碰巧喜欢对方时，他们会发出类似山羊的咩咩声，而雌性会发出啾啾声作为 "来这里 "的召唤。
Notoriously：adv. 众所周知地；声名狼藉地；恶名昭彰地
例：Mountain weather is notoriously difficult to predict.
Solitude：n. 独居，独处，孤独；偏僻的地方，无人居住的地方
例：He enjoyed his moments of solitude before the pressures of the day began in earnest.
Absurdly：adv. 出奇地，荒谬地
例：Prices were still absurdly low, in his opinion.
Elusive：adj. 难懂的；易忘的；逃避的；难捉摸的
Try to catch the elusive charm of the original in translation.
原文链接：
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/sep/21/the-bear-truth-why-happy-pandas-cant-be-bothered-to-find-a-partner?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
文案|毛彦文 陈俞彣 赵梦赟 陈莲旖 章鑫依 王柯琪
排版| 陈俞彣
