Jun
11

Are pandas the Bitcoin of the natural world?

Dr. Bill McShea, ecologist at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute and the Smithsonian’s “panda guy,” is baffled by the public’s love affair with the critically endangered critters.

In a recent TED talk, McShea described “panda sickness,”  a modern obsession with panda bears despite the fact that they are, as he says, just bears. Other creatures are just as rare and endangered, there are plenty of animals that are just as adorable, so why the fascination with pandas? McShea hilariously explains why our inexplicable affection for this “average bear” is a good thing for the world.

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Posted: 11 June 2014
About the Author:

Alex di Giovanni is primarily responsible for "other duties as assigned" in the Office of Communications and External Affairs. She has been with the Smithsonian since 2006 and plans to be interred in the Smithson crypt.