Why do we love pandas?

For the first time in nearly two decades, two giant pandas will be brought from China to the UK, to live in Edinburgh Zoo. The project represents the culmination of five years of political and diplomatic negotiation at a high level. But why does the panda - unlike any other animal - have the power to involve and engage so much? And what is the key to its enduring popularity?

They remind us of ourselves

"They eat sitting up using their hands and their special pseudo thumb, which is actually a modified wrist bone," he told the BBC News website.One of the main reasons we love pandas is that they remind us of ourselves, says Ron Swaisgood, Director of Applied Animal Ecology, San Diego Zoo Institue for Conservation Research.

The classic pose for a panda eating is one that resembles the way humans sit on the floor.

It's all in the eyes

According to Mr Swaisgood, we also love pandas because of their distinctive eyes. Their eye patches make their eyes look bigger.

"People love big eyes because it reminds them of children," he says. "This is called neoteny in scientific terms."

Neoteny basically means keeping a juvenile appearance into adulthood.

They make us laugh

We just find pandas funny. But, according to Henry Nicholls, author of The Way of the Panda, they are undeserving of mockery. Indeed, pandas were not seen as figures of fun until humans failed to get them to reproduce in captivity.

They are shy

The giant panda's enigmatic nature is in stark contrast to its sheer bulk and striking appearance. The few that remain in the wild are mainly scattered across six isolated mountain ranges across south-central China. 

"There is some rather heartening that, in a very developed world, this species can still evade us and manage to carve out a space for itself," Mr Nicholls says.

They are cultural symbols

The panda has been relentlessly made into a symbol since the 1960s. It's been used by the WWF to convince us about the importance of conservation.

According to San Diego Zoo's Ron Swaisgood, the fact that they are an icon of conservation helps boosts their appeal.