Why do we love pandas? For the first time in nearly two decades,
two giant pandas will be brought from China to the UK, to live
in Edinburgh Zoo. The project represents the culmination of five
years of political and diplomatic negotiation at a high level.
But why does the panda - unlike any other animal - have the
power to involve and engage so much? And what is the key to its
enduring popularity? They remind us of ourselves One of the main
reasons we love pandas is that they remind us of ourselves, says
Ron Swaisgood, Director of Applied Animal Ecology, San Diego Zoo
Institue for Conservation Research. "They eat sitting up using
their hands and their special pseudo thumb, which is actually a
modified wrist bone," he told the BBC News website. Zoo visitors
love to watch Pandas eating and are often amazed by the way they
handle their food with considerable dexterity - thanks partly to
that "pseudo thumb", which functions as a sixth digit. The
classic pose for a panda eating is one that resembles the way
humans