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.
Sales of panda dolls in one shop topped one million yuan (US$146,000) in one month.
The Qilu Evening News, a media outlet in China’s eastern province of Shandong, reported that one factory in the province that produces panda dolls was forced to set a delivery date 40 days after payment due to a flood of orders.
On the social media platform, Xiaohongshu, a person posted a photo of a panda doll on her shoulder and wrote “Came for coffee with He Hua”, which quickly garnered more than 2,000 likes.
In the wake of Le Le’s death in Memphis Zoo there has been much focus on her mate, Ya Ya who remains in the same US facility.
Ya Ya, who was born at Beijing Zoo, was leased to Memphis Zoo in 2003. At the end of last year, it was announced that she would be returned to China at the end of the 20-year lease.
Earlier this year, it emerged that Ya Ya’s health was failing, sparking national concern in China and demands for her early return.
In addition to Ya Ya, several other pandas living overseas have been returned to China this year, including Xiang Xiang, who returned to China in February from the Ueno Zoo in Tokyo in Japan.
In China, He Hua, a panda at the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding, has become a new internet sensation and a key search word on e-commerce websites.
The last panda to cause a rush was the mascot for the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, Bing Dwen Dwen, which was based on the image of a panda.
According to China Sports News, during the Beijing Winter Olympics, 1.4 million toy mascots were sold.
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