Okay, lets all take our "zoo nerd" hats off, and look at this from the point of view of the general public who might visit the zoo once per year:
1. Pandas are regulars in popular culture: Anyone with young kids knows about "Kung Foo Panda", and for those in the UK, you'd surely know about the panda character in "Sooty" (her name is Sue). Kids DO want to go to the zoo to see animals which they recognise from fictional TV shows (ie meerkats for example).
2. Pandas are the type of animal which can work well as a teddy bear. Notice how much panda paraphernalia there is when pandas are present in a zoo? As well as panda teddy bears, they are on cups, mugs, tea towels, clothing, hats etc. They are everywhere - not just in zoo shops, but in toyshops throughout the world!
3. They are photogenic: Black and white animals look great in photos (zebras, penguins, orcas, colobus monkeys, ruffed lemurs, skunks, magpies etc).
4. Humans relate to them: They sit up like a human does and eat bamboo and pull it apart etc. Even their sheer laziness is human-like in a lot of ways. People can see a bit of themselves in them.
5. They are iconic, and are the face of a large and interesting country with a fascinating culture. When people think of China, one of the first things they think of are pandas. It's like when people think of Australia they think of kangaroos and koalas. Even non-zoo people, or non-animal people make this connection. By seeing a panda in a zoo, the visitor feels that little bit closer to Chinese culture (even if it is just in their own mind), and Chinese culture is fashionable (people have tattoos of Chinese characters for instance).
6. They are the face of the World Wildlife Fund - that means something. They are a rare animal and not something which you will see regularly in every single zoo. By obtaining pandas, a zoo has really "hit the bigtime". A lot of non-zoo people will go to a zoo if they know there are pandas, but wouldn't bother if the zoo didn't. It's often a case of "I've never seen a panda before, so lets check out the zoo".
That said, I doubt that they are worth the money - but I'm no expert.... Are they worth it for some other reason that can't really be measured in dollars? Maybe....
1. Pandas are regulars in popular culture: Anyone with young kids knows about "Kung Foo Panda", and for those in the UK, you'd surely know about the panda character in "Sooty" (her name is Sue). Kids DO want to go to the zoo to see animals which they recognise from fictional TV shows (ie meerkats for example).
2. Pandas are the type of animal which can work well as a teddy bear. Notice how much panda paraphernalia there is when pandas are present in a zoo? As well as panda teddy bears, they are on cups, mugs, tea towels, clothing, hats etc. They are everywhere - not just in zoo shops, but in toyshops throughout the world!
3. They are photogenic: Black and white animals look great in photos (zebras, penguins, orcas, colobus monkeys, ruffed lemurs, skunks, magpies etc).
4. Humans relate to them: They sit up like a human does and eat bamboo and pull it apart etc. Even their sheer laziness is human-like in a lot of ways. People can see a bit of themselves in them.
5. They are iconic, and are the face of a large and interesting country with a fascinating culture. When people think of China, one of the first things they think of are pandas. It's like when people think of Australia they think of kangaroos and koalas. Even non-zoo people, or non-animal people make this connection. By seeing a panda in a zoo, the visitor feels that little bit closer to Chinese culture (even if it is just in their own mind), and Chinese culture is fashionable (people have tattoos of Chinese characters for instance).
6. They are the face of the World Wildlife Fund - that means something. They are a rare animal and not something which you will see regularly in every single zoo. By obtaining pandas, a zoo has really "hit the bigtime". A lot of non-zoo people will go to a zoo if they know there are pandas, but wouldn't bother if the zoo didn't. It's often a case of "I've never seen a panda before, so lets check out the zoo".
That said, I doubt that they are worth the money - but I'm no expert.... Are they worth it for some other reason that can't really be measured in dollars? Maybe....
