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| Baby panda Fubao eats bamboo leaves at Everland Panda World. Courtesy of Samsung C&T |
By Kim Hyun-bin
There has been a sharp rise in interest in pandas in the country recently with thousands of people visiting Everland, the country's largest theme park, to get a glimpse of its baby panda Fubao and purchase panda-related accessories, according to Samsung C&T, Thursday.
The number of visitors to Everland Panda World, where the baby panda Fubao and her parents Aibao and Lebao live, has been increasing. The average number of visitors on the last day of May was about 7,000, an increase of about 20 percent compared to the first week of May, which included Labor Day and Children's Day holidays.
"Panda-related stories have spread through the media both domestically and internationally, and as it became known that the baby panda Fubao will have to return to China to find a mate in about a year, there has been a continuous influx of visitors who want to see the panda family," an Everland official said.
On May 24, on a TV program Kang Cheol-won, a zookeeper at Everland who is famous as Fubao's "grandfather," appeared and talked about his memories with Fubao and the reasons why she has to go to China.
"Fubao is scheduled to leave for China next year when she reaches the age of maturity to meet her mate," Kang said.
Reflecting the nationwide interest in Fubao, panda videos have also been gaining popularity on social media platforms recently.
On the official YouTube channel of Everland, where you can watch Fubao videos, and on a popular YouTube channel, the number of panda-related video views in May reached approximately 25 million.
Furthermore, it was revealed that 1 out of 10 visitors to Everland purchase various panda-related goods such as dolls and headbands as souvenirs.
Everland Panda World, which opened in 2016, is currently the only dedicated space in Korea where you can experience pandas. It is home to a panda family consisting of Aibao (female), Lebao (male), and Fubao (female), who was the first panda born in Korea through natural breeding in July 2020.
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