13 Reasons Why Giant Pandas Are Very Popular (W/ Photos!)


Have you ever wondered why many people are so obsessed with giant pandas? In this article, you will find the reasons why giant pandas are very popular:

Table of Contents

1. Giant Pandas are Very Rare

It is never that easy to spot a panda. The factor that this animal is super rare makes it very popular. The popularity comes by since everyone gets amazed after setting eyes on it.

The amusement of seeing a giant panda comes to another extent, whether it’s the 1st time you are seeing it or not.

In the wild, there are only 1600 giant pandas. A good number of giant pandas are in captivity, mostly in zoos. The total number of giant pandas in captivity ranges above 300 in China.

2. They are Symbols of Conservation

Credit to: worldwildlife.org

In 1960, the Giant Panda became the symbol of conservation (WWF). This factor has made giant pandas well-known all across the world!

3. They are Cute

Giant Panda showing its cuteness

The cuteness of a giant panda is the primary reason this wild animal is popular. The big head and the short nose bring out a natural look that you can never find easily in any other animal.

When it comes to the cuteness of this animal, the dark circles around it also add another attractive feature. A panda’s eyes may appear bigger than average due to its black hair.

The black hair surrounds the eyes covering the ages, fully bringing a sensation that no other animal in the wild has.

Humans get attracted to the panda due to its ‘big’ eyes, reminding them of children. 

In most cases, humans have the habit of gaining attraction to things children love. Such a fact plays a significant role in making giant pandas more popular than most other animals in the wild.

4. Pandas Are Solitary

Giant pandas do not like to associate with each other. This factor makes this mammal popular since other animals in the wild love to stay around each other.

5. Giant Pandas are Funny Creatures

Giant pandas are playful and funny, especially when young. These animals love to roll around in horse poop for fun!

One interesting thing about them is that a giant panda may sometimes climb trees only to jump down on a free fall.

These activities have made these mammals very popular. People love to stay around and watch them as they play and behave in these funny manners.

6. Their Way of Feeding

The way giant pandas feed is also a characteristic that plays a significant role in making them popular. Using their false thumb and claws when feeding is a feature that resembles the way humans feed.

Because of this method of feeding, giant pandas have become popular. There are only a few animals that would feed in such a way.

7. Pandas Are Vegetarians

All giant pandas love feeding on green vegetation such as bamboo. The vast size of giant pandas may make many think these animals are only carnivores.

It is not so common to find wild animals loving to feed on the green instead of other meaty options.

With the feature that this mammal loves bamboo, many people get some form of attraction to it. The attraction between giant pandas and humans has given it some form of popularity far and wide.

8. Zoos Keep Giant Pandas

Any zoo across the globe would do what it takes to keep a giant panda. Walking into some zoos around the world, you may find giant pandas. Any zoo that keeps this kind of panda would have more visitors than others that do not.

A zoo would be able to pay massive amounts of money per year as a taxation fee for keeping these pandas.

The factor that a good number of zoos desire to keep giant pandas has made this mammal very popular.

The people coming into the zoo would also be ready to pay a reasonable amount just to see this animal. The desire of the people to spend a lot to see this mammal makes it super popular.

9. Giant Pandas are in Danger

These mammals also fall under the most common species that may be in danger of extinction. With many campaigns in China and across the globe to help protect giant pandas, these animals have gained some form of popularity.

10. The Nature of Giant Pandas Cubs

Another reason why giant pandas are famous is because of their cubs. These cubs have features that are rare in many other mammals out there.

Giant panda cubs are born blind and with no fur. These two main features usually attract people to monitor this mammal and learn more about them.

The blindness feature increases its popularity even further since people want to study the giant panda cubs and see how they survive with the blindness until their eyesight comes.

11. Giant Pandas are Unique

Tame Giant Panda

These pandas are unique. The uniqueness comes since these animals can be powerful like bears and, at the same time, very tame as puppies.

This form of special uniqueness makes these giant pandas very famous. The popularity comes because very few wild animals can be this way.

12. Giant Pandas are China’s National Heritage

The Chinese government considers giant pandas a national heritage making them super famous. These mammals get this national rank due to their ability to help conserve the country’s bamboo vegetation.

Giant pandas maintain bamboo by helping pollinate their seeds while feeding on them.

13. The Giant Panda is a God to Some People

In the Tibetan town in China, some people believe that there was a time when a panda god appeared. They further believe that the panda god helped them heal a plague that had taken over their community.

This story increases pandas’ popularity, making them an icon in China and the world.

The popularity of pandas began in the early 1960s when governments used them as a symbol of conservation. In 1979 WWF signed an agreement with China to help save the giant panda. The combination of WWF and the Chinese government led to the wide popularity of the panda.

During this time, British environmentalists created the panda logo, which managed to go viral, increasing the popularity of this mammal as well.

Who is the most famous panda?

Basi is the most famous panda. She was born in 1980, and she is over 37 years old. The number of years she has lived plays a good role in making it popular. Basi was the oldest living panda in activity before her death in 2017.

To this date, no other panda in captivity has broken her living record. Despite being born in the wild, Basi adapted to humans quickly while in captivity, thus becoming famous.

Final Thoughts

Giant pandas have gained a lot of popularity due to their characteristics, physical looks, behavior, and other factors. Most of the other factors include the endangered status and the nature of their cubs.

Other campaigns for the protection of giant pandas have also increased their popularity. People want to know more about this endangered mammal making it familiar.

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