Quick, what color is a panda’s tail?
Black? Judging from depictions in popular culture, pandas have black tails to go along with black eyes, ears, and paws.
Jingjing, one of the “Five Friendlies” mascots for the Beijing Olympics, adheres to this pattern. Unfortunately for Olympic organizers, pandas’ tails come in only one color, white, according to The Beijing News, which did the legwork by contacting the Beijing Zoo to confirm what blog and forum commenters had suspected. Is this an embarrassing mistake that will confuse Olympics fans both at home and abroad?
A spokesperson for the Olympic organizing committee responded with the only answer possible: “Jingjing is not just a giant panda, but rather an artistic creation based on the form of a giant panda.”
And shoppers at Olympic merchandise shops haven’t seemed to notice – they just think that Jingjing’s pretty cute. Who cares if a panda’s tail is black or white as long as it catches the consumer’s eye?
- The Beijing News (Chinese): Why is Jingjing’s tail black?
- Images from Sina Games, BTHome, Tom, Wahfung, N318