Volunteers pass pandas made by French artist Paulo Grangeon jointly with WWF with recycled papers at the beach under Tsing Ma Bridge for the first time on June 10, 2014 in Hong Kong, China. Credit: Getty Images You could say organizers of this exhibit are ‘pandering’ to people’s love for cute and cuddly creatures. At the beach under Tsing Ma Bridge in Hong Kong, 1,600 pandas made from recycled paper – the work of French artist Paulo Grangeon – are put on display in an effort to encourage people to protect endangered animals.
Artists’ viewpoint
“Environmental conservation is a serious theme, but we express it in an entertaining way. We choose pandas,
which are loved by people worldwide, to start with, and later, we can do more to protect other species,” says French artist, Paulo Grangeon.
By the numbers: 1600
There are 1600 paper mache pandas on display in Hong Kong – but more significantly, this is the number of giant pandas still alive in the wild, according to the WWF.
Panda facts
Mighty mom
At birth, a panda cub is 1/900th the size of the mother.
Eating habits
Pandas eat over 13 kgs of bamboo shoots a day to meet their energy needs, and spend 14 hours a day eating. Pandas eat in a relaxed sitting position.
Weighty animals
Adult pandas can weight up to 300 lbs.
