Everyone loves pandas and would love to have one but they're rare bears, so what's a panda-lover (or low-budget zoo) to do? Make your own, of course, based on some other more common creature! While the wisdom of “pandalizing” animals is debatable at best (or worst), the results will leave you bewitched, bothered and bamboozled.
10) Panda Cat
Creepy panda cat is creepy... and he's coming to get you while you're asleep tonight! Obviously this is the work of a deranged pet-owner (who puts a shirt on a cat??) who just can't leave well-enough alone.
We'll remind the owner to keep any firearms hidden and locked up: from its “if looks could kill” expression, we'd say this is one panda who eats shoots and leaves... in that order. (Panda lookalike image via Comicadze)
9) Panda Crocodile
Remember that zoo in Gaza that couldn't afford zebras so they painted a donkey in black & white stripes?
They've got nothing on a zoo in Thailand where pandas are presumably on the “want” list yet the owners just can't wait. And you thought the only ugly crocs were the ones you wear on your feet. (Panda lookalike image via Procrastinate Tomorrow)
8) Panda Lamb
Created by Scottish sheep farmer Jill Noble from an undisclosed mixture of Icelandic and Scottish stock, so-called “Panda Lambs” have stoked widespread interest since the first was born on April 1st of 2012.
“Everyone is very amused and impressed by the lambs,” stated Noble, “and the sheep certainly showed the pandas a thing or two about producing babies.” That's a little harsh, Jill, pandas may not be overly prolific but we wouldn't say they don't know mutton. (Panda lookalike image via AOL Travel)
7) Panda Elephant
The elephant keepers at the Ayutthaya-Elephant Kraal In Thailand weren't at all pleased when the birth of a panda cub at Bangkok's Chiang Mai Zoo grabbed the limelight.
In response, the keepers whipped up a big batch of watercolor paint and set to work pandalizing five of its resident elephants. Shame on them, tusk tusk. (Panda lookalike image via Thailand Land of Smiles)
6) Panda Squirrel
Panda Squirrels? In my China? It's less likely than you think... MUCH less, in fact, even though according to Dr. Nigel Notanut this odd black & white squirrel “is exciting evidence that there could be many more interesting discoveries awaiting rodentologists in China.”
That may be true, Nigel, but considering the news was released on April 1st of 2009 we're taking your interesting Panda Squirrel with a grain of salt. (Panda lookalike image via Wild Birds Unlimited)
5) Panda Shrimp
“Hey mate, throw another panda on the barbie... NOT THAT PANDA!!” The Panda Shrimp isn't especially panda-like unless one counts the crustacean's contrasting black & white coloring.
That seems to be the main qualification for calling anything Panda-something these days, so get your own shrimps and get off my bamboo lawn! (Panda lookalike image via Arofanatics)
4) Panda Pig
It dwells in the forest and eats bamboo... or maybe YOU! So much for pandas being gentle, easygoing creatures who symbolize the precarious vulnerability of the world's endangered wildlife.
Not so this panda-like peccary who snorts at your ill-conceived notions and who's likely dished out a number of black eyes without the benefit of makeup. (Panda lookalike image via Desktop Nexus)
3) Panda Tapir
The Malayan Tapir looks somewhat panda-like thanks to its large size, rounded body and a distinctive black & white hide that helps conceal it from tigers and other forest predators.
Thankfully no zoos have yet attempted to modify the Malayan Tapir's natural appearance to make it more panda-like, though if it's gonna happen our bets are on Thailand. (Panda lookalike image via True Wild Life)
2) Panda Dog
If Chinese dog-owners dyeing their pooches to look like tigers is bad, then how would one describe other Chinese dog-owners dyeing their dogs to look like pandas?
The answer, of course, is also “bad” because living creatures don't deserve to be treated as blank canvases tarted up to satisfy some person's casual whim. That said, some of these Chinese panda dogs look pretty cool! (Panda lookalike image via DogFiles)
1) Panda Ant
This spectacular image purports to depict a “Panda Ant” but things are not always as they appear – and by the way, this is an actual insect and not a cynical photoshop.
Native to central Chile, these hermaphrodite wingless wasps grow to about 8mm (about 1/3 of an inch) in length and no, they don't eat bamboo. (Panda lookalike image via Chris Lukhaup)
What do actual pandas think of the raft of animal imitators? They don't, of course, but if they did one would assume overly much is being made of the issue... and of course, they'd be right. Appearances to the contrary, it's not a black & white world but wouldn't it be boring if animals only displayed 50 shades of grey? (Panda lookalike images via Guzer, top, and WildLifePrints, above)
