The Panda's Tail

News reports suggest that there is a "panda boom" of sorts, judging from the recent births of the bears in zoos in Washington, D.C. and San Diego, California. While pandas are still considered endangered, the small, wriggly products of conservation efforts in Chinese and American zoos are encouraging signs that work to preserve the species is succeeding.

One thing that has struck me about panda cubs is the fact that their tails are disproportionately long. They will grow into them, zoologists explained, and as older individuals, their tails will be relatively short by comparison to the rest of the panda.

Helpless little creatures, the cubs are. And by and large, their mothers are nurturing types, feeding and protecting them and providing for their every need.

It seems to me that panda tails are a bit like pandas themselves. Both are expectantly there, and both will eventually become the kind they are destined to be, if given half the chance.