Chi Chi (giant panda)
Chi Chi (1957 in wild in Sichuan, China – 22 July 1972 London Zoo, United Kingdom) was a well-known female giant panda at London Zoo in England.[1]
Chi Chi was not London Zoo's first giant panda; Ming was one of four that arrived in 1938. However, it was Chi Chi who became the Zoo's star attraction and Britain's best-loved zoo animal.[2]
Contents
Life
She was born in 1957, caught in December 1957 in Sichuan, and moved to the Beijing Zoo in January 1958. In May of the same year, the Austrian animal broker, Heini Demmer, acquired Chi Chi in exchange for an impressive collection of African hoofstock and brought the animal to Moscow Zoo. After resting for a week, the panda journeyed to Tierpark Berlin, the zoo in East Berlin. By then, Chi Chi had already been sold to Brookfield Zoo in Illinois, United States. However, the Treasury Department stepped in and announced that the US trade embargo on goods from the People's Republic of China extended even to pandas.[3] Chi Chi was thus refused entry to the USA. The Frankfurt Zoological Garden provided a temporary home for the panda until Demmer decided to temporarily hire the animal out to European zoos. She then visited Copenhagen Zoo before she arrived at London Zoo on 5 September 1958. The Zoological Society of London had stated that it would not encourage collection of wild pandas, but accepted Chi Chi since she had already been collected. Although Chi Chi's visit was originally planned to last for only three weeks, it was decided to buy her for £12,000. Chi Chi became property of London Zoo on 26 September 1958.[4]
Chi Chi was an inspiration for Sir Peter Scott's simple but distinctive black and white design used as the logo of the World Wildlife Fund.[5][6] However the logo shown on this page is not the logo designed by Peter Scott but a later one, designed for WWF in 1986 when it changed its name from World Wildlife Fund to World Wide Fund for Nature.[citation needed]
There were unsuccessful attempts to mate Chi Chi with Moscow Zoo's An An.[2]
Chi Chi died on 22 July 1972[7] and was mourned by the nation.[2] A post mortem was conducted. Her remains, now a stuffed exhibit, sit in a glass case, at London's Natural History Museum.[8]
See also
- Other notable animals at London Zoo
- Panda diplomacy
- Tián Tián, giant panda at Edinburgh Zoo
References
- ↑ Michael R. Brambell, London Zoo's Giant panda: Ailuropoda melatiolenca: 'Chi Chi', 1957–1972. International Zoo Yearbook, Volume 14, Issue 1, pages 163–164. Published online 18 December 2007. The Zoological Society of London, 1985. doi:10.1111/j.1748-1090.1974.tb00809.x.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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- ↑ Ramona Morris & Desmond Morris: The Giant Panda. Revised edition by Jonathan Barzdo. Papermac, London 1981, pp. 93-111, ISBN 0-333-32473-0
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ WWF: Giant Panda
- ↑ Gwynne Vevers: London's Zoo. London 1976, p. 99, ISBN 0-370-10440-4
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Further reading
Heini Demmer, Ute Demmer & Erich Tylinek: Tschitschi der Bambusbär. Artia, Prague 1961.
