Of pigs and pandas

The first post-earthquake panda birth took place Sunday when twelve-year-old Guo Guo gave birth to twins at the Bifengxia Giant Panda Base outside Chengdu. Guo Guo was one of 63 pandas moved from the Wolong Nature Reserve to other facilities after the quake caused the death of one panda and damage to the reserve, endangering the province’s 1,800 pandas.

But new mother Guo Guo isn’t the only one getting congratulated — the quake pig’s protector, a local businessman named Fan Jianchuan, recently received an award from the animal-rights organization People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals for his pig-advocacy, which was celebrated by the group’s director:

"Thanks to Fan Jianchuan, Zhu Jianqiang's miraculous struggle to live was not in vain," People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals Director Jason Baker said in a statement.

"Zhu Jianqiang has shown beyond a doubt that pigs, including the billions who are killed for food, have the same overwhelming will to survive that humans and all other animals do," he added.

"I hope that people who hear this story will do something for pigs, too, by not eating them."

Think about that next time you reach for the bacon.

Photo from Chi King