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....
Article about the captive-population worldwide - 2018 : Captive pandas rise to 548 globally - Xinhua | English.news.cn
Its amazing that giant pandas are almost "common" in captivity today. At 45 plus being born on a yearly basis, I think they will become more common in the future.
I think China wants them to be more common, but also want zoos to continue paying them millions of dollars to keep them. Personally, if I was running a zoo I wouldn't even consider acquiring giant pandas with how the current setup works. It's a waste of money with limited benefits.
Then why do major zoos strive to get them, nevertheless? (And you're right in regard to the limited financial benefit) My suggestion: Because they are probably one of the most prominent status symbols a zoo can legally have. [Just like a large king cobra, a white croc / gator or a komodo dragon are status symbols for most reptile zoos]. If a zoo can afford giant pandas, it's one of the "big boys" in the global zoo scene. Even previously little known zoos like Ähtäri Zoo make international news once they get giant pandas. As in other status symbols, it's more about what they represent than what they actually do.
Not sure if this has already been mentioned but I think it is worth mentioning. The science journalist / writer Henry Nicholl pretty much covered the topic of the history of the cultural significance of the panda / panda diplomacy (How the Chinese go about this and who stands to benefit etc) and the consequences for conservation (both positive and negative) in his marvellous book "The way of the panda". I seem to remember him also having a blog that was very informative on this subject (and other interesting episodes in the history of science and natural history too) and wrote several articles in the Guardian exploring specifically pandas which can also be found.
Yes, that is correct. However, I must also say that this distinction did come at a significant cost to some of the other species at Chapultepec which could have definitely benefited from being the recipients of the same attention / focus / funding that the two elderly she-bears were receiving well in their twilight years (In my humble opinion).
