Papier-Mâché Pandas Are Taking Over the World

1,600 pandas are coming home to Taiwan. Starting last month, the creatures gathered in Taipei, spilling onto the streets and into city gardens. Unfortunately for anyone who might want to adopt one of the fuzzy creatures for a pet, they’re all made of papier-mâché.

The pride of pandas (there’s no official word for a group of pandas because they’re usually solitary creatures) was created by the French artist Paulo Grangeon. The exhibition has been touring the world, stopping in such scenic locales as Paris and Rome, but this is the first time it has been installed in Asia, where they are launching a tour.

Each papier-mâché sculpture represents a single panda that’s left in the wild. The installation’s purpose is to raise awareness about animal conservation in the panda’s home country, but the googly-eyed creatures are also a reminder of why we love pandas so much: they’re possibly the cutest animal on the planet.

If only the real pandas proliferated as easily as their papier-mâché counterparts, we wouldn’t have a problem.