Adelaide is a cultured and classy city, but just lately it's been flinging insults at Sydney's bridge and Melbourne's cricket ground: "So what?" is the theme of its billboard campaign, "We've got pandas!"
You can hardly blame the city for its excitement over these furry emissaries from China, the only giant pandas in the Southern Hemisphere. It's taken extensive negotiation and planning, a $10 million investment in a purpose-built complex, a commitment to donate $1.3 million annually to Chinese panda conservation throughout the 10-year lease, and a whole lot of patience; but finally, just before Christmas, they emerged from quarantine into public view.
There was, frankly, emotion. At least one woman was moved to tears - but she had foreseen the possibility and not worn eye make-up: "I didn't want to end up looking like a panda myself."
What is it about pandas that stirs up such a reaction? Partly it's their rarity: with only an estimated 1600 in the wild, plus 300-odd in captivity, a scant 30 of those outside China, they're sadly the ideal symbol for endangered species.
Then there's the fact that although they're officially carnivores, their feast of choice is bamboo, and plenty of it, please. Even more non-threatening, they eat it sprawled back in couch-potato mode. Mainly, of course, it's their appearance: irresistibly furry, chubby and compact (Wang Wang on his hind feet is about 1.6m high), big round face, little Mickey Mouse ears and above all that striking colour scheme with the black eye patches. They're cuddliness personified; and on a fascinating Behind the Scenes tour, I was instantly smitten.
