Yes, I’m a sucker for cute animals, and everyone—save my friend Melissa Chen, who hates pandas and thinks they should be allowed to go extinct—thinks the panda is among the Top Five Cutest Animals. On April 6, Warner Brothers will release the IMAX movie “Pandas”, which follows the life of Qian Qian, a panda born in captivity but released in the wild to swell the shrinking population.
It’s narrated by Kristen Bell, and here’s the trailer:
I didn’t steer you wrong about Kedi, did I? (And if you haven’t seen it, you’re a reprobate.)
Oh, and here’s the Latin name of the giant panda: Ailuropoda melanoleuca, which means “black and white cat-foot”. There will be a quiz.
I know, I know, Kedi is right in my living room and I still haven’t watched it.
When the basket falls over.
Melissa Chen’s opinion is too extreme but I will say that Red Pandas are cuter than Giant Pandas. I realize that might come off as blasphemy…
And yes, Kedi was great.
You’re absolutely right!
She’s certainly not on her own as there are conservationists who agree. They don’t have anything against pandas. I doubt that any would sign up for a panda hunt. It’s that they think the millions spent could be put to better use.
That said, pandas being so very cute does help to raise funds. And any money spent on protecting their habitat helps other endangered species.
Sorry. This was meant to be a reply to number 7.
Giant pandas are a vital part of the Earth’s ecosystem and must not be allowed to go extinct.
If it weren’t for giant pandas the planet would be overrun with bamboo.
That said – I love giant pandas. I adopted one through Panda International and travelled to Chendu to see her when she was less than one year old – and it was safe to actually hold her in my lap and have a photo taken before she became big (and potentially dangerous).
Giant pandas are bears. And wild – not able to be domesticated. Giant pandas occasionally maul humans.
Melissa Chen must be bamboo.
Glen Davidson
The wife and I saw Kedi the other night and loved it.
You can watch a couple of pandas live here:
lumijapyry.fi
Lumi and Pyry are their names. Lumi means Snow and Pyry means Blizzard.
Melissa is on her own with that opinion, I suspect. What could she possibly have against them?
I’d be interested to know that too.
How can anyone not love pandas but hate them is beyond me…
According to my Google research the Top Five Cutest Animals consist of at least 100 different species, probably a lot more. Is there an official listing?
I guess that one of the reasons we find pandas cute, is that with their big eyepatches they conform to Lorenz’s ‘Kindchenschema’: juvenile traits such as big forehead, big eyes, small snout and chin make animals ‘cute’.
The great George Schaller was quite opposed to these ‘capture to breed in captivity’ programmes (poaching and habitant destruction was what threatened the pandas most in his expert opinion) and made himself quite popular with the Chinese authorities for his criticism. (Later they appear to have patched up, since he’s been working in Tibet in the early 2000’s)
I may be a reprobate but I did just request Kedi from my local library.
Melissa Chen be like Honey Badger, and Honey Badger don’t care.