Pandas are one of the most popular animals in the world. Their fame spreads far beyond their native China, and zoos that can afford to lease these symbols of the Middle Kingdom are guaranteed an influx of visitors.
But what if... they aren't real? At least, that is what many internet users believe as part of one viral theory. It is, by the way, already 10 years old. Just imagine, for 10 years people have been trying to prove that pandas don't exist.
Back in 2014, a Reddit user posted a provocative message on the site.
«I am absolutely certain that pandas are just an extremely elaborate hoax».
The man accompanied his opinion with a photo in which a panda sits on a swing like a human child. The post racked up thousands of comments. As it turned out, many people support his theory and believe that these are actually people in special fur costumes. The bears' movements and some of their habits are just too «human».
Since then, the «pandas aren't real» theory has developed further. Now some people believe that the bears themselves do, of course, exist, but that they are the result of an experiment, test-tube animals. Created in a laboratory, though it is unclear for what purpose.
Fans of this crazy theory ask rhetorical questions. Why do pandas eat bamboo when they are carnivores? And why do they mate so poorly? Why do many pandas relieve themselves while doing a handstand?
The distrust was made worse by real cases of «fake pandas». For instance, in 2014 in Italy the owner of a traveling circus dyed chow-chow puppies black and white to fool visitors. That same year, a real panda at a zoo faked a pregnancy in order to get extra portions of bamboo. So it is no wonder that people have become more suspicious of these animals.
By the way
A blogger going by the handle Fluentyforward pointed out that the first evidence of the panda's existence was discovered only in 1869. The French missionary and naturalist Armand David was gathering information about the wildlife of China. In one remote village he saw a strange hide. It took Europeans another century to find and see a live panda – unlike other animals, which appear in ancient writings and hieroglyphs much earlier.
