Thu January 10, 2013 Agreed, Baby Pandas Are Cute. But Why?
Originally published on Fri January 11, 2013 1:05 pm Xiao Liwu
made his public debut Thursday at the San Diego Zoo. Fans
crowded around the exhibit, their camera lenses extended, hoping
to catch a glimpse of the 5-month-old giant panda cub. If
they're lucky and actually do see the 16-pound panda (his
Chinese name means "Little Gift"), there'll be much oooing and
aaahing. You'd have to be heartless not to agree that pandas,
especially the youngest of them, are as cute as all get-out.
Right? But why? The New York Times tried to answer that question
back in 1987: "Ask the people at the zoo, and they say things
like 'It's the eyes' and 'It's the black and the white.' Ask a
behavioral neuroscientist like Dr. Edgar E. Coons, and he will
say that giant pandas are the world's most adored animal for a
very simple reason: they set off an almost sublime combination
of 'hedonic mechanisms.' 'Cues' to Say 'Ooh' and 'Aah.' "The big
eyes in their black sockets, the