On Saturday 18 April, Rome’s Piazza del Popolo was invaded by panda bears–the paper-mache kind, that is. Meant to raise awareness about the plight of panda bears–there are only 1600 left in the world–the adorable creatures were placed in the piazza by the World Wildlife Fund, an organization that uses the bear as its symbol.
The pandas have moved on now, to the Sicilian city of Syracuse, where they’ll sit atop a bridge during the meeting of Ministers of the Environment from G8 countries that’s taking place there this week. If you’re dying to have one of these cute black and white bears, stay tuned, as next week they’ll be put on sale on eBay! Prices should soar as some of the bears will be autographed by such superstars as Francesco Totti, Italy’s reigning football king with funds being used to support World Wildlife Fund projects.
If you’d like to help the pandas but want to avoid the eBay fray and don’t really need for your bear to be signed by Totti or anyone else, click on over to the World Wildlife Fund site and adopt your very own cuddly animal.
Photos: La Repubblica
