Firefox goes LIVE
December 5, 2010 6:54 AM   Subscribe

Firefox goes live with streaming cuteness. Firefox LIVE features six cameras focused on two baby female red panda cubs and their immediate family playing inside a glass-protected play area in the Knoxville Zoo.
posted by Sailormom (30 comments total) 10 users marked this as a favorite
 
Right now, we're looking at some streaming, sleeping cuteness ... but still, nothing deploys the cute like a red panda.
posted by grabbingsand at 7:03 AM on December 5, 2010 [1 favorite]


seriously warm and fuzzy? how about seriously fucking sad.
posted by kitchenrat at 7:27 AM on December 5, 2010


Hey, I love those pandas! And I love the Knoxville zoo! A+! Goldstar!
posted by SkylitDrawl at 7:28 AM on December 5, 2010


daaaaaaaaaaaaaaw!
posted by liza at 7:50 AM on December 5, 2010


kitchenrat: Red pandas are endangered, victims of deforestation. Their natural space is shrinking as more and more forests are destroyed by logging and the spread of agriculture.

That's why we need zoos like Knoxville to raise awareness, and to protect some of these endangered animals from total extinction.

And these red pandas are not deprived in the least. Animals that come from China have very strict rules about their handling, as I personally know, as my Mom was involved when two giant Pandas were granted to Busch Gardens, Tampa, and a special, climate-controlled exhibit was built for them. These animals receive the very best of care. They are not in tiny cages.

So I really think your "seriously fucking sad" comment is based more on personal bias against the zoos of the past (where cages and poor living conditions were commonplace) than the actual circumstances we see here.
posted by misha at 7:56 AM on December 5, 2010 [8 favorites]


I've gotta drop in here and say that I've visited these red pandas a lot and they are very well cared for. The Knoxville zoo does an excellent job with its red panda exhibit, I'd say it's the best exhibit in the whole place, personally (although their elephants are often spotlighted as well).
posted by SkylitDrawl at 8:03 AM on December 5, 2010 [1 favorite]


Anyone who thinks an american zoo is seriously fucking sad should maybe spend some time looking into zoos in other countries. You haven't seen sad until you've seen a full grown bengal tiger in a cage about the size of a great dane's traveling case. Kunming zoo, I am looking directly at you.
posted by elizardbits at 8:14 AM on December 5, 2010 [4 favorites]


Meanwhile, Apple's Safari stream is a lot less cute and a lot more gruesome.
posted by kafziel at 8:30 AM on December 5, 2010 [4 favorites]


I really can't wait for Google Chrome's livestream of some shiny rocks.
posted by Tomorrowful at 8:46 AM on December 5, 2010 [2 favorites]


I'm seeing smallish ears lurking behind a log. They don't like being watched.
posted by scruss at 8:46 AM on December 5, 2010 [1 favorite]


They'll kill you as soon as look at you. And then pee on your body.

However: LOOK AT THEM! AWWW!
posted by Astro Zombie at 9:13 AM on December 5, 2010


I really can't wait for Google Chrome's livestream of some shiny rocks.

There are people out there who are really into cars and car detailing, and I'm sure they'll find the Chrome livestream to be a fascinating look into the process of classic car restoration.
posted by kafziel at 9:15 AM on December 5, 2010


"The Panda? Master that Panda is not the Dragon Warrior!"
Sifu, don't you realize that you, too, are a Panda?

If the video link tells you to wait because of the backlog of Mefites, try one of the other cameras.
posted by eye of newt at 9:30 AM on December 5, 2010


When I saw the post title I thought Mozilla had released a HTML5 in-browser application that acts as a W3C-compliant web browser that allows you to browse the web from the convenience of your browser.
posted by clarknova at 9:49 AM on December 5, 2010 [1 favorite]


I see somebody looking in the window at them. Does that count?
posted by scalefree at 9:57 AM on December 5, 2010


The Chrome live stream will be of Neil Young sleeping.
posted by mannequito at 11:01 AM on December 5, 2010


They'll kill you as soon as look at you. And then pee on your body.

If I were trapped in a cage 24/7 with a camera on me broadcasting my image around the world I'd want to engage in some carnage myself.
posted by blucevalo at 11:02 AM on December 5, 2010


Kunming zoo, I am looking directly at you.

That was one of the saddest things I've ever seen, honestly, and made me jaded against zoos for most of my childhood. It gets worse the further west you go, too. In Ürümqi, the hippo was kept in a tiny, oppresively hot room in a tank full of dirty water and trash, and in Hotan, I had the distinct privilege of watching a depressed bear repeatedly slam his head into the wall.

In contrast, the Knoxville zoo looks like heaven.
posted by pecknpah at 11:11 AM on December 5, 2010


Red Pandas aren't actually much related to Giant Pandas. It's only recently with developments in phylogenetics that guesswork has been replaced by evidence that Red Pandas are more closely related to Musteloids(weasels, skunks etc though it exists in its own family, with no other surviving relatives), and that Giant Pandas are Ursoid, with their closest relatives being spectacled bears.

However both Red and Giant Pandas have the famous "Panda's Thumb", an additional extension of the wrist bone. However, fossil evidence suggests that the Red Panda's is for arboreal movement, while the Giant Panda's is for bamboo manipulation, so it's an example of convergent evolution rather than a family trait.

Because of their unique evolutionary status in their respective family trees - both types of Panda are considered living fossils.

/panda geek
posted by Sparx at 11:14 AM on December 5, 2010 [7 favorites]


A zoo in China (not Kunming) let a red panda sit on my lap. It's amazing to hold a toddler-sized teddy bear while it snacks on an apple.
posted by shivohum at 11:31 AM on December 5, 2010 [2 favorites]


The Konqueror livestream from the camera mounted on Charlemagne's elephant was way cooler.
posted by NoraReed at 12:19 PM on December 5, 2010 [1 favorite]


Yeah, the flip side of regular Chinese zoos is the Wolong Panda Reserve in Chengdu, which, while still maybe not up to what I think many people would consider Western standards of animal luxury, is pretty goddamn awesome. The staff there are pretty fanatically devoted to the pandas and their welfare. Also, I realize it's probably not in a wild animal's best interest to closely interact with so many humans during its life, but OMG YOU GUYS YOU CAN SNUGGLE A FAT BABY PANDA THERE. they are smelly.

Also there are terrifying "educational" panda breeding/mating videos in the learning centre, the memory of which I would very much like to have professionally expunged.
posted by elizardbits at 1:12 PM on December 5, 2010


I'm not a fan of most of the zoo's I've been to in Asia (never go to the zoo in Five Star Park in Guilin, China. One of the most depressing things I've ever seen), and I'm hesitant to go to Ueno Zoo in Tokyo. On the other hand, out here in the burbs where I live, the Chiba Zoo is actually pretty big. It could be better , but in a lot of ways it's actually pretty nice. And about five years ago, it got a ton of publicity because of Futa-kun. There's not a lot about him in English, but Futa-kun's big selling point was that he stands up. A lot. For long periods of time. This led to him being something of a craze in Japan about five years ago. In fact, my first date with my wife was to go see Futa-kun and check out the Chiba zoo.

There's a darker side, though. Futa, and his mate Chibi, have had several generations of adorable baby red pandas. Each time, though, Futa must placed in a separate cage until the babies reach maturity. Why, you ask? Evidently, male red pandas seem to find their offspring pretty tasty.
posted by Ghidorah at 2:11 PM on December 5, 2010 [1 favorite]


I must spend too much time on the internet. Naming a pair of pandas Futa and Chibi just sounds wrong.
posted by kafziel at 2:47 PM on December 5, 2010 [2 favorites]


Meanwhile, Apple's Safari stream is a lot less cute and a lot more gruesome.
posted by kafziel at 11:30 AM on December 5


I really can't wait for Google Chrome's livestream of some shiny rocks.
posted by Tomorrowful at 11:46 AM on December 5


The Konqueror livestream from the camera mounted on Charlemagne's elephant was way cooler.
posted by NoraReed at 3:19 PM on December 5

*dead*
posted by liza at 3:32 PM on December 5, 2010


kafziel, good to know. I will click on links you provide with more caution in the future. You sick, sick person...
posted by Ghidorah at 3:53 PM on December 5, 2010


Red pandas suffer from a couple of extra special problems.

1. In certain Chinese circles, a hat of red panda fur is considered a very lucky thing for a wedding.
2. Red panda females are only fertile for a day or two every year. If your range is diminished and fragmented your changes of hooking up with a mate are greatly reduced.

I learned these factoids when we visited the red pandas at Wellington Zoo.
posted by i_am_joe's_spleen at 5:53 PM on December 5, 2010


You would think a promotion for the latest and most advanced version of an internet browser would have a streaming video quality slightly higher than "oh shit I think that pixelated blob just moved."

I work for Mozilla, but not on this promotion per se.

I can say that we searched far and wide for a streaming video solution that was not Flash or that did not require a plugin, but could not find anything that could meet the requirements that we had. Hopefully in the not-too-distant future there will be other options for native support of streaming video in browsers but we're not quite there yet.
posted by gen at 12:34 AM on December 6, 2010 [2 favorites]


Neither the live feed nor the highlights reel will work at all for me (it's IE on this computer, maybe that's why?), and I am really in the mood for some panda adorableness too.
posted by lphoenix at 10:18 AM on December 6, 2010


Evidently, male red pandas seem to find their offspring pretty tasty.

You ever eat one? THEN DON'T JUDGE.
posted by infinitywaltz at 1:51 PM on December 6, 2010 [1 favorite]


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