Four adorable pandas had a picnic and got applause (9 photos + 1 video)
A truly magical sight awaited visitors to the Chongqing Zoo in China during the Mid-Autumn Festival. They witnessed a group of pandas relaxing at a miniature picnic table. The animals were enjoying treats made from bamboo sticks and were feeling just fine! 
Pandas Shuangshuang, Chunchun, Xixi, and Qingqing casually took their places around a wooden table. They were cleaning and munching on fresh bamboo shoots (they're called bamboo bears for a reason!).
This scene, as if taken from a fairy tale book, captivated everyone present. After a delicious lunch, the pandas went headfirst down the slide, and this won the hearts of visitors completely! 
The Kongqing Zoo and Sanctuary takes care of 23 pandas, including these four, and often shares videos of the lives of its inhabitants on social media. But the pandas sitting on chairs around a table and methodically eating bamboo sticks are really cool and unusual. Many viewers even wondered if this was a costume show. 
"They have better table manners than most people I know," one guest joked.
"Are you sure they're not men in disguise?" another asked.
Shuangshuang and Chunchong, the male twins, and Sisi and Qingqing, the female twins, were the stars of the Mid-Autumn Festival, showing off their playful and outgoing personalities. 
Why do pandas make us so cute? The answer may lie in neurobiological research.
In 1885, German zoologist Julius Kollmann coined the term "neoteny." It describes a biological process in which an animal slows down its development and retains characteristics typically associated with children until adulthood.
Neoteny is a common developmental feature of our species, as humans are the most neotenous of all primates. 
Research into the evolutionary merits of cuteness has suggested that it functions as a defense mechanism. Humans, as social creatures, evolved to respond to the childlike traits of an animal with a need to protect and care for it.
Pandas have evolved a number of features to protect themselves from harm, but coincidentally, those same adaptations also make them incredibly cute to humans
But what does neoteny have to do with pandas? As it turns out, their appearance is a perfect reflection of this feature. In layman's terms, they resemble giant furry teddy bears, even as adults.
Their famous black "mask" around their eyes serves as a deterrent to potential predators, giving them an intimidating appearance. However, to humans, whose brains are wired differently, this feature only makes their eyes appear larger, creating the opposite effect.
Their round, soft bodies and ability to roll over remind us of what human babies look like. They have short legs and large heads. In some ways, their anatomy is very similar to that of primates, making them very similar to us when they perform certain actions.
"They eat sitting down, using their front paws and a special false digit (the sixth digit), which is actually a modified wrist bone," Ron Swaisgood, director of applied animal ecology at the San Diego Zoo Institute, told the BBC.
"Our babies have characteristics that we humans respond to. For example, they have a big round head, big eyes, a high forehead, and a 'tumbler doll' body. We are programmed to respond to these babyish characteristics. Babies just make us love them and want to take care of them. It's part of our human nature," he added.
Netizens are actively discussing whether the pandas in this video are real or people in costumes. Because they can't be that cute!
"They're just people in costumes!" one commenter said.
“These pandas are so perfect they must be people in suits,” another suggested.
“If I could choose another career, I’d want to be a baby panda chaperone,” said one viewer. “I’ve been watching videos of them for years and they’re so interesting and, yes, truly human. Pandas are unique.”
“I read about a panda who makes a face when he breaks bamboo to eat. He does this because his trainer taught him how to break bamboo, and it would be very difficult for a human to make that face. They’re adorable,” said another.
“Pandas are amazing, it’s impossible not to love them!”
“Pandas are the best!”
