Giant Panda of Sichuan
The first specimen of a Giant Panda came to Europe in 1869. Armand David, a Christian missionary, was posted to Beijing, China. David was also a naturalist, and he collected many specimens to send back to the Museum of Natural History in Paris. While stationed in Sichuan, hunters in his employ brought him the body of a young black and white bear. He dutifully sent the skin back to Paris, and in his letter with another naturalist he remarked “I have not seen this species in the museums of Europe and it is easily the most pretty I have come across; perhaps it will turn out to be new to science!” [ref] https://www.theguardian.com/science/animal-magic/2014/jan/06/the-first-giant-panda-and-how-it-ended-up-in-paris https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/how-america-fell-love-giant-panda-180956692/ [/ref] It took a long time, before further examples of Giant Pandas came to light, and it wasn’t until 1936 that the first Panda was displayed outside of China in a zoo [ref] http://wwf.panda.org/?13588/History-of-the-Giant-Panda [/ref]. While distance and communication was difficult in the ancient world, leading to distortions, such as the possibility the Indian rhinoceros was a unicorn, the Giant Panda did not seem to be well known inside China either. Chinese art depicting Giant Pandas was very rare before the 20th century. [ref] https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/how-america-fell-love-giant-panda-180956692/ [/ref]… Continue reading