Labour MP Stella Creasy was so annoyed that she issued a statement on the matter, saying the BBC had a long way to go when it came to representing women without making them a joke.

“Whilst we all love a good panda story, in a year when Christine Lagarde became head of the IMF, or Helle Throning-Schmidt became prime minister of Denmark, or even the sad death of Amy Winehouse, it’s frustrating the BBC couldn’t think of 12 human female faces who have made the news this year.”

Tian Tian declined to comment, but her defenders noted that 52% of those surveyed felt she was an appropriate choice because “the list was clearly intended to be light hearted.”