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Giant Pandas: The Debate Over Their Survival (PICTURES)

LOOK: Should Pandas Just Be Left To Die Off?
Charlotte Meredith
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Getty

Disappointed officials at Edinburgh Zoo recently revealed the female giant panda Tian Tian, who was thought to be pregnant, apparently suffered a miscarriage.

The panda, also known as Sweetie, was successfully inseminated in April but suffered a miscarriage near the end of her pregnancy.

Now, the debate over whether or not pandas are just too lacking in basic survival instincts to avoid extinction has been sparked again.

It's arguable pandas don't seem to want to survive. In the wild, they're prone to inbreeding. In captivity, zoos are forced to use Viagra and animal-porn to encourage them to mate, or resort to artificial insemination.

But who are we to judge the fuzzy two-tone bears?

We looked at what people have said about the pros and cons of panda survival:

Should Pandas Just Be Left To Die Off?
PRO: They are adorable(01 of11)
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LIKE, REALLY, REALLY CUTE. (credit:Getty)
CON: They suck at sex(02 of11)
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Female pandas only ovulate once a year. They have no libido and no interest in repopulating the species. They quite simply, do not want to do it. (credit:AP)
PRO: But how would you feel about having sex in captivity?(03 of11)
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"Imagine if you and a person of the opposite sex, whom you'd never met before and in fact might despise or not feel attracted to, were locked in a small glass cage and glowered at by aliens, who got increasingly annoyed that you failed to have sex in front of them." Dan Nosowitz of Popular Science wrote. (credit:Getty)
CON: Is breeding them a waste of time?(04 of11)
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Breeding pandas is "prolonging the existence of a hopeless and wasteful species the world should've given up on long ago," wrote Timothy Lavin in Bloomberg. In an article entitled: 'Why I Hate Pandas and You Should Too.' (credit:Getty)
PRO: They Enjoy Slides(05 of11)
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Just look at them having a blast...
CON: They're not very good at choosing the correct diet(06 of11)
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Pandas have sharp teeth, they are supposed to be a carnivore. But they choose to spend up to 16 hours a day eating bamboo. That's the equivalent of you chewing on styrofoam for 90% of your waking hours. (credit:Getty)
PRO: Humans are just as much to blame(07 of11)
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"Pandas have lived on our planet for about three million years," Heather Stohl of the World Wildlife Fund told The Telegraph. "The big threat is not really an evolutionary one, it's the fact that their habitat is being destroyed and fragmented." (credit:AP)
CON: Is prolonging their existence going against natural selection?(08 of11)
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Gizmodo brusquely wrote that: "Nature has made it clear in no uncertain terms that pandas need to die. Now." While TV naturalist Chris Packham has said "perhaps the panda was already destined to run out of time." (credit:Getty)
PRO: They're oblivious diplomats(09 of11)
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Pandas are a boon for the perennially tense US/Chinese relations. For more than half a century, China has used its pandas to help foster relationships with other countries. (credit:Getty)
CON: They're very, VERY lazy(10 of11)
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As well as not being particularly bothered about sex, pandas are also chronically lazy about general life. David Plotz of Slate wrote: "Pandas are not ill-natured. They are worse: They are no-natured. Drearier animals you cannot imagine. They are highly anti-social, detesting interaction with other pandas and people." Plotz concluded, "Good riddance to the semi-bear." (credit:Getty)
PRO: They have a job to do(11 of11)
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Pandas are conservation icons and by having pandas in zoos "it really engages people—it really is about getting people to care, and that's important," Stuart Pimm, a conservation ecologist at Duke University, told National Geographic. (credit:Getty)
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