Vancouver’s Chinatown is holding an online vote to determine what its mascot will be. Option one: a panda with sunglasses and a red Mohawk . Option two: a panda with a giant calligraphy brush strapped to its back .
For now, the mascots are nicknamed “Punky” and “Muse,” respectively, pending a name-the-mascot contest after the election.
Being a mascot is one ecological niche where the otherwise
under-prolific
species multiplies with ease. The winning Vancouver candidate will join a clan that includes the
WWF panda
,
Pan Pan
of the 1990 Asian Games,
JingJing
of the 2008 Olympics, the
Panda Express mascot
, and South Park’s
Sexual Harassment Panda
.