Via Smithsonian’s National Zoo

This morning, the Today show aired a segment on the National Zoo’s possibly — emphasis on possibly — pregnant panda Mei Xiang. Why is a national morning show devoting a segment to a panda pregnancy that may not be happening? Why is this website taking time to poke fun at it? Welcome the slow news days of summer.

The segment has all the makings of a slow news day story: a reference to the royal baby, an interview with a tourist who thinks pandas are “adorable,” and B-roll of all the panda-related junk at the souvenir shop. Matt Lauer even cracks the joke, “You know the definition of a nanosecond is the time between when a panda gives birth and someone describes it as a stick of butter.” DCist devotees will recall that Butterstick was the affectionate nickname for Tai Shan, the National Zoo panda cub who grew up and (was forcibly) moved to China.

Only two more months of breathless speculation until coverage of the royal panda baby’s birth possibly begins!

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