A new ‘pandamic’: toy panda sales soar in China amid concerns over fate of national-treasure bears in foreign zoos
- Surge in sales of bear-related products has prompted one official media outlet to dub shopping phenomenon ‘the panda economy’
- Death of ‘national treasure’ in US zoo and worries over health of his mate in same facility fuel ‘pandamic’
China is in the grip of a new “pandamic” following a spate of stories about the health and well-being of bears leased to foreign zoos.
The animals are considered a “national treasure” by the Chinese people and interest about their fate overseas, and at home, has reached fever pitch in the wake of the death of Le Le – which translates into “Happy Happy” – in Memphis Zoo in the United States in February.
Most recently, mainland social media has also seen much discussion about the fate of Le Le’s mate, Ya Ya, who remains in the same Memphis facility, Xiang Xiang, who was returned from Japan and He Hua, an adorable panda living in Chengdu, in the southwestern Chinese province of Sichuan.
The panda-mania has sparked a shopping boom which has seen products related to the cuddly bears fly off the virtual shelves of major e-commerce sites in China.
Such has been the demand for products, an official media outlet, China News, has dubbed the phenomenon “the panda economy”.
According to China News, in mid-March, searches for “panda” in the toy category on Taobao, China’s largest e-commerce site, soared 10-fold month-on-month.