According to legend, giant pandas were once pure white. Perhaps this is why the story’s heroine – a young Chinese shepherd girl – occasionally encountered friendly pandas among her white sheep. Disaster struck one day: a marauding leopard attacked one of the girl’s panda friends. The girl rushed into the fray to try to save the panda, who escaped with his life. The girl was not so lucky. When the panda told the others of the girl’s death, they were devastated. As a symbol of their mourning, the pandas coated their front legs with ashes. As they dried their tears, the ashes stained their eyes black. As they held each other close, the ashes colored their shoulders. As their keening wails of grief grew too loud to bear, the pandas raised their paws to their ears, turning them black, too. Ever since, giant pandas have borne the black stains.