What’s black, white, and sexy all over? If PornHub has its way, it’s humans costumed and painted as pandas doing the dirty all in the name of science. On Thursday the adult entertainment site announced the launch of its “Panda Style” campaign, an initiative that’s part of the site’s philanthropic division, PornHub Cares. Tied to National Panda Day, the campaign encourages people to get in touch with their wild side, film their panda cosplay fornication, and upload the video to PornHub’s database of panda porn that scientists can in turn show actual pandas to get them in a mating mood.
Panda porn is not some twisted fetish; it’s actually required by captive breeding centers to nudge male pandas into doing the deed. Evidence of it working are murky at best, but scientists like Zhand Zhihe, the director of the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding, is confident that it does at least something. In 2010, Zhihe told ABC News that he was “sure the sound of the video will stimulate the panda and the males’ interest.”
Videos of pandas getting it on, as well as paired exercises to strengthen male panda’s leg strength and stamina, are considered necessary because panda copulation is a notoriously difficult thing to happen. Male pandas spend 16 a day eating and the rest of the day sleeping; because of their slow metabolisms, pandas avoid exertion with their super chill lifestyle. This makes it tricky, however, when lady pandas come to (sexual) play — female pandas are only sexually receptive two to three days a year, and there is only a 36 to 40 hour window where the egg can be inseminated. A disinterest in sex, a dislike of their partner, and simply not knowing how to use their business all contribute to low success in captive panda breeding.
PornHub wants you to dress like a panda and do it.
PornHub says that for every “Panda Style” video it will donate $100 to panda conservation efforts. Additionally, from March 16 to April 16 it will donate one cent to every view of videos specifically in the “Panda Style” category. “Through this initiative we hope to not only generate quality content scientists and zookeepers can use to show pandas, but also raise adequate funds for a nonprofit organization to ensure the livelihood of the world’s giant panda population,” Corey Price, vice president of PornHub, said in a statement.
For every video, PornHub donates $100.
Pandas, while no longer considered an endangered species, are still considered a “vulnerable one.” There are an estimated 1,864 pandas in the wild and 350 in captivity, and as climate change spirals on, captive panda breeding will remain a crucial factor for the species’ survival.
That means PornHub, which has a steadily growing number of philanthropic projects including PETA-backed animal spraying and neutering initiative, might help save the pandas way more than Desiigner ever has.
