I had read about this a few days ago, but wanted to wait until I could get some photos to post of it. I’m so glad I waited, look at how amazing these photos (via ScaryIdeas) are! Here’s the AFP blurb about the whole thing.

PARIS (AFP) — Paris city hall was swamped by 1,600 papier mache pandas on Thursday, part of a WWF campaign to highlight the urgent need to protect the vanishing species.

According to the environmentalist group, which uses the bear as its logo, there are only 1,600 giant pandas left worldwide, making it one of the most striking examples of biodiversity in danger.

“Through this symbol we want to show our attachment to the whole of the living world,” said Serge Orru, head of WWF France.

“Of course, the panda is the most touching, the most tender. But worms are just as important as pandas.”

According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), one in four mammals, one in eight birds, a third of all amphibians and 70 percent of plants are under threat from global warming, deforestation and pollution.

The hand-painted Paris pandas, around 40 centimetres (one and a half feet) tall, are to travel around the capital’s monuments in the coming weeks before setting off for sites across France.