Read a 1958 story about Chi-Chi-s plight here
There doesn't seem to be any photo or movie documentation of the first leg of Chi Chi's journey to the Moscow Zoo. If anyone know's of anything let me know.
https://youtu.be/IKA3Y7pvUUQ?list=FLxYkPR2BHLXUmOGbSwN2boQ
Second leg of Chi Chi's journey Tierpark East Germany
https://youtu.be/1hqBKU-CuTk
Third leg of Chi Chi's journey Frankfort Zoo
There doesn't seem to be any photo or movie documentation of the fourth leg of Chi Chi's journey to the Copenhagen Zoo. Given Copenhagen Zoo's current "problem's" with trying to rent a panda from China they probably wish they had kept Chi Chi in 1958. If anyone know's of anything, again please let me know.
BBC Radio 4 - Chi-Chi: Panda Ambassador
https://youtu.be/88IKqxmqQVk
Fifth and final leg of Chi Chi's journey. London Zoo. Home Sweet Home! Spending time with royalty explaining never to get deposed because seeking political asylum is indeed a suck existence........
https://youtu.be/tHZs1kSLlyQ?list=FLxYkPR2BHLXUmOGbSwN2boQ
Chi Chi never left London Zoo again, with the exception of a return trip to Russia for a dirty weekend(unproductive) with An An in 1966
https://youtu.be/SeIbMI0K2bo
An An agreed to have another go(again, unproductive) at Chi Chi in 1968 and flew to London to reciprocate her visit two year's earlier.
The cruel truth of China's panda factories | Daily Mail Online
Best quote I have heard in many years, Lu Zhi, a panda expert from Beijing University, last yearcalled the reintroduction efforts as “pointless as taking off the pants in order to fart.”
Copenhagen may have trouble renting a panda pair from China, but over here in the Netherlands in october of last year Ouwhands Zoo made the announcement that they wil recive a panda pair from China in th fall of this year.
ReplyDeleteGreetings friend Bjorn,
ReplyDeleteMy understanding about Copenhagen's "problem" with acquiring panda's is the issue of them euthanizing and aged giraffe and some surplus lions a couple of year's back. The world is still amazingly upset over that, and just as incredible, assume the same fate would befall an panda's loaned to them.
Wade
Dear Wade: I saw a documentary on TVO recently about Edinburgh Zoo receiving a pair of giant pandas from China. They are hoping to have the first panda cub born in the UK. I know I've mentioned this before, but Desmond Morris wrote an amazing book about panda, "Men and Pandas", I believe with his wife. He also wrote I think (I know you hate it when I do that) "Men and Snakes" and "Men and Apes". At one point London Zoo placed pandas on its zoo blacklist, and vowed never to get another. The Russians weren't very interested in trying to breed their panda An An with Chi Chi. Desmond Morris said that there was speculation that they didn't want to admit that they weren't sure whether An An was male or female. The Russians said that since Moscow's interest was purely scientific the offspring if any would be the property of London Zoo. The only other pandas outside of China were in Pyongyang Zoo. Maybe the Russians thought they would never have any problem getting another panda. I'm not sure exactly when Russian and China fell out. They started shooting at each other across the border. I heard Prince Charles talking recently about the brown bear cubs which Kruschev (I don't know if I spelled that right) gave him when he was a child. It sounded like he was still bitter that he didn't get to keep them. They were sent to London Zoo straight away. There was an article in the paper the other day that said that when Moa was in Russia Stalin had his poop collected for analysis by the KGB. Sincerely Paul
ReplyDeleteWade: Here are a bunch of videos including a pair of pandas in San Francisco Zoo in 1942 and one in London Zoo in 1943: http://www.britishpathe.com/search/query/panda+bear I couldn't find one of Prince Charles and his beloved bear cubs. Sincerely Paul
ReplyDeleteHere's another 15 including some of Chi Chi and also Ming the panda at London Zoo: http://www.britishpathe.com/workspaces/pandaski33/O8yRPnVL Sincerely Paul
ReplyDeleteWade: There are over 124 London Zoo video clips on British Pathe. Did I ever show you this one: "Baby Gorilla Gives Up Living With Humans 1962" http://www.britishpathe,com/video/baby-gorilla-gives-up-living (?) Sincerely Paul
ReplyDeleteWell at $1 milion rent for a pair of Panda's per year and if they produce a cub,they have to pay an extra $600.000 per year for the cub ( I belief the cubs stay with the mother for 4 years). I don't think Copenhagen is going to euthanize them unless they want a political riot with China LOL.
ReplyDeleteOn a side note, did you see that wonderfull YouTube film with Christel Sembach Krone and her father Carl Sembach presenting liberty horses?.
Wade: Did you ever see this?: "Save the White Tiger"-Scientific American, October 2014. http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/save-the-white-tigers/ Sincerely Paul
ReplyDeletePaul,
ReplyDeleteThe article is a pretty basic, simple writing which may lead to misunderstanding unless folks research the subject further.
Wade
Paul,
ReplyDeleteEdinburgh Zoo got the panda's because Scotland signed a trade deal with China for fish and drilling technology.
Wade
Bjorn,
ReplyDeleteOuwhands Zoo's acquiring of pandas is because the Netherlands is now China's third-largest trading partner within the EU. Nothing what so ever to do with conservation as the Ouwhands Zoo website states. No really, if you live in the real world..... Indeed I saw the video of the Sembach Krone's and it is truly incredible. I am grateful for whom ever filmed it originally and for it's re-showing.
Wade
Wade,
ReplyDeleteI kind guessed that it would be somthing like that. And the owner of Ouwehands Zoo Mr Boekhoorn is also a multimilionair businessman, so he probably also made some business deals with the Chinese.
Dear Wade: I was trying to find that picture of the man (Ivan) with one of the white tiger cubs he raised for Baron Julius Von Uhl in Texas in 1975 with the Great London Circus. He told me it's in his archive, but I couldn't get the search engine to work, and I can't find it on your blog either. I was looking at Desmond Morris' book Men & Pandas here at the library last time. There's a picture of Chi Chi on the cover (just like Oliver Graham Jones book). He devoted a chapter to the London Pandas. There's a picture of Oliver Graham Jones examining Chi Chi to determine once and for all whether she was female. There's a picture of Queen Elizabeth II and her sister when they were children with Ming the merciless panda cub at London Zoo, and a picture of An An on a Russian postage stamp. I wonder if Scotland is going to leave the UK. Oh there were also pictures of Happy the giant panda in Liepzig Zoo. I think WWII bombs made his fur fall out. When Desmond Morris was writing this book (I read it when I was 11 I think) they still thought that giant pandas and lesser pandas were related to each other and to racoons. Sincerely Paul
ReplyDeletePaul,
ReplyDeleteI heard Ivan was not well and could no longer do his blog. The panda stamp you mention was issued in 1964 as part of a 7 stamp set commemorating the 100 anniversary of the Moscow Zoo.
Wade
Dear Wade: I left Ivan a message on his blog and he answered me by e-mail. There is a website titled "All About White Tigers". They are interested in his picture and any others he may have of the tiger cubs he handreared for Baron Julius Von Uhl. I was mistaken about Happy. His fur didn't fall out. That was Ming at London Zoo. Happy was only visiting Liepzig Zoo. There's a picture of him and the caption reads: "A giant panda in Paris. His exhausting German tour over Happy no longer lives up to his name at Vincennes Zoo." Apparently there was a book titled "Introducing Chi Chi" (Spring Books). There's a picture of Heini Demmer the Austrian animal dealer who owned Chi Chi with her in her crate strapped to the roof of his car while he's getting directions from a London bobby. This is in Desmond Morris' book "Men & Pandas". There's a series of pictures of him giving her a bubble bath at London Zoo and chasing after her when she escaped. I guess she was living up to her name, which translates as "naughty little girl". There's a picture taken when Teddy and his son Kermit went panda hunting in China. It was Kermit Roosevelt and Norman Schwartzkoff's (I'm probably not spelling his name right, but I'm talking about the father of the Gulf War general) father who put the Shah on the throne of Iran which reminds me. CNN was saying that Iran has just released video of those American sailors they recently captured crying. The US Navy is investigating. By the way London Zoo made great efforts to try and and get a mate for Chi Chi from China, reassuring the Chinese that Britain fully recognized the People's Republic of China, but to no avail, so they turned to the Russians for help in trying to breed her. Before I forget I know that Ivan had a double lung transplant a while back. Take care. Sincerely Paul
ReplyDeletePS: I was trying to find anything on the internet about Nikita Khruschev giving brown bear cubs to Prince Charles. I've heard him talk about this on TV and I think there's a picture of the cubs in Desmond Morris' book "Animal Days". I'll try and find it on my way out. I did find a reference on the internet to Nikita Khruschev giving Prince Charles an Arabian horse in 1956 when he was 6 years old. I assume the pandas shot by the Roosevelts are the specimens in the Smithsonian. Sincerely Paul
ReplyDeleteDear Wade: I was thinking again about how ridiculous and surreal was the saga of Chi Chi the homeless, unwanted, orphan panda being driven around Europe strapped to the roof of this Austrian guy's car, a traveling panda bear show, after he had delivered a Noah's Ark load of African big game animals to Beijing Zoo (which was then in need of restocking so it was a perfect storm). She should have been the most valuable animal on earth.(At least until Snowflake came along.) I was trying to find you a website that would allow you to watch the "Wild About Pandas" documentary which was on TVO. I found this: http://www.edinburghzoo.org.uk/webcams/panda-cam/ I hope that works. Also Hungary issued a postage stamp in 1977 with the image of one of the two American pandas, which had appeared in National Geographic in 1972, Ling-Ling or Hsing-Hsing (I see they have their own Wikipedia article. You can see the Hungarian stamp here: http://www.pibburns.com/cryptost/panda.htm I was able to find a copy of Desmond Morris' book Animal Days here and according to that book Nikki the brown bear cub was a gift for Princess Anne. Sincerely Paul
ReplyDeleteWade: I just found this article in the google news archive about a white tiger shot by the Maharaja of Sirguja in 1924. It's from the Lawrence Daily Journal Thursday June 5, 1924 Page 3 "White Tiger Is Slain Indian Raja Displays Skin of Man-Killing Tiger in Calcutta". Sincerely Paul
ReplyDeleteI came across a picture of you with Bagheera on the Buckles Blog which I had never seen before. Last night I watched a documentary about titanosaur bones from Argentina presented by David Attenborough. He was comparing titanosaurs to several living animals such as ostriches, elephants, and giraffes. It looked as though he was at a really good zoo with huge outdoor enclosures for the giraffes and elephants, and they appeared to have both African and Asian elephants. I would have thought it was at the WAP, but there were no palm trees and everything was too lush and green there. The keepers were wearing shirts with "LZS" on them, so it had to be London Zoo. Attenborough was hand feeding a banana to an Asian elephant. This reminded me of Heini Demmer leaving his Nairobi collecting station with three giraffes, two rhinos, two hippos, and two zebras bound for Beijing Zoo to trade for a panda bear cub. Someone was apologizing on the internet for telling people they could see wild tigers in Kenya. I remember that somebody had included tigers amongst the "Big 5" must see animals on an African safari. Maybe this was the guy. Anyway he said that there are actually only two tigers in Kenya. They live at the Wild Animal Orphanage and were a gift from Denmark. I guess the WAO is the nearest thing Kenya has to a national zoo. I know they had a baby mountain gorilla which they sold with a chimpanzee to London Zoo for $5000 US. I wonder whether Heini Demmer ever considered placing Chi Chi in the Wild Animal Orphanage when she was denied entry into the United States because of her communist past. I think Chi Chi and Charlie Chaplin might have been in the same boat. Obama's father could have visited Chi Chi. David Attenborough said that Montreal has the largest dinosaur factory in the world where they manufacture fibre glass skeletons for museums. Sincerely Paul
ReplyDeleteToronto Zoo just had its first Indian rhino birth in 17 years. It's a boy. There was an Indian rhino in a game farm in British Columbia, but I don't know whether it's still there.
ReplyDeleteDear Wade: If Copenhagen Zoo has the rental fee for pandas why would they have any difficulty getting them? Did I ever mention that pandas were on a London Zoo blacklist for all time after WWII I guess? I forget why, but that must have been when they decided to buy Chi Chi from Heini Demmer for $10,000. Chi Chi was just barely still alive in 1972 when Nixon was given his two pandas because his wife wanted a cigarette when she was in Beijing and the only brand of cigarette in China was panda brand, and she pointed at a pack of cigarettes which had the panda on the package and said "They're so cute.", and her host Chou En Li I think his names was, said "I'll get you some.", and she said "You mean cigarettes?", and he said "No, pandas." Chi Chi visited Moscow Zoo for the first time en route from Beijing to Western Europe. I remember that cities with major zoos tried to pull strings so that they would get the pandas instead of Washington DC, but Nixon decided that the National Zoo would get them. I always thought they should have split them up soo maybe the Bronx Zoo got one.
ReplyDeleteDear Wade: I have been looking for this video since forever. It is the National Geographic documentary Great Zoos Of The World, and it features film footage of Chi Chi & An An at London Zoo, Snowflake at Barcelona Zoo, and of Indian National Zoo in New Delhi director K.S. Sankhala with white tigers at his zoo. There is also film footage of K.S. Sankhala visiting the white tigers at Govindgarh Palace in Rewa, including Mohan who died shortly after this was filmed. At the time there were 37 white tigers in the entire world and they were all pure-Bengal tigers. Anyway I hope I don't screw up this link. It's long and complicated:
ReplyDeletebing.com/videos/search?q=Great+Zoos+Of+The+World&&view=detail&mid=023c340DE0999B5443A2&&FORM=VRDGAR
God I hope I didn't screw it up. I'll go back and double check it. I want to send it to Sarah Hartwell by e-mail and I wish I could send it to Mary Ann since there is lots of great color vintage white tiger footage. Since An An was in London I guess this was from 1966 maybe? I remember the Russians said something that really impressed me. They said that "Since Moscow's interest is purely scientific the offspring if any will be the exclusive property of London". Sincerely Paul
Dear Wade: I was just testing that link for Great Zoos Of The World and it seems to work provided I typed it all in right. Snowflake at age 2 at Barcelona Zoo and the white tigers in India are on Part 2 of the documentary, and Desmond Morris, author of The Naked Ape, & Men And Pandas, Men & Snakes, Men & Apes, and Animal Days, and God knows what else is in it. He was Curator of Mammals at London Zoo when they were trying to mate Chi Chi & An An. He must have gone to Moscow with Chi Chi, and she already visited the zoo there before London Zoo bought her for $10,000. I know you can't post any more of my comments before you get more from other people. That's fine with me. Sincerely Paul
ReplyDeleteDear Wade: I was just looking at this one also. It is Glendale's Great Adventures Wildlife World Zoo:
ReplyDeletebing.com/videos/search?q=Great+Zoos+Of+The+World&&view=detail&mid=954D44D56ED126BF4F10E954D44D56ED126B4F10E&&FORM=VRDGAR
I hope that will work. I see they have Arabian oryx & white tigers & a bull white rhino which is trained. Sincerely Paul
Dear Wade: I found this also which I couldn't get to play. It is Bernhard Grzimek's 1959 movie Serengeti Shall Not Die, Serengeti darf nicht sterben:
ReplyDeletebing.com/videos/search?q=Serengeti+Shall+Not+Die&&view=detail&mid=978925D7136A5D7136A5D79B9A597B925D7136A5D79B9A5&&FORM=VRDGAR
I hope that will work, but I guess it's in German. The National Geographic documentary also featured Basel Zoo's collection of gorillas I noticed. It's interesting because I think the documentary came out in 1970 and in fact I know it did because National Geographic magazine used its second article about Snowflake to promote this documentary Great Zoos Of The World. I meant that it's interesting that the documentary put the total population of white tigers on earth at 37 in 1970 with I believe 13 at New Delhi Zoo because the 1971 Smithsonian article put the number at 36 one fewer. They must have been counting also Rewati the white tigress at the US National Zoo, and her brother Moni, as well as Princess at the Crandon Park Zoo in Miami. Sincerely Paul PS: I also noticed the European bison at the East & West Berlin zoos, but they didn't show a single okapi when Basel and Frankfurt and London and West Berlin should have had them.
Dear Wade: Copenhagen should be getting pandas soon, unless it was an old news story and they already have them. I was trying to find anything about Chi Chi visiting Copenhagen Zoo and instead a found a couple of old British Pathe videos featuring that old prick the Duke of Edinburgh visiting London Zoo. The first is titled The Duke at The Zoo (1960). I don't know if the link will work.:
ReplyDeletebing.com/videos/search?q=chi+chi+the+giant+panda++at+copenhagen+zoo&qpvt=chi+chi+the+giant+panda+at+copenhagen+zoo&view=detail&mid=
The first one has Guy the gorilla and Chi Chi in it. Another one came up also from British Pathe The Duke of Edinburgh at London Zoo 1963, and there was also The Duke of Edinburgh at London Zoo 1965. In the one from 1963 he and Desmond Morris are watching a baby African elephant take a bath indoors and looking at a white rhino. Something else came up in black & white I would guess from a long time ago titled The Cutest Zoo Ever !Baby Rhino !Baby Hippo ! Baby Wallaby !It features the first ever baby black rhino born in a zoo which it says is at Brookville Zoo, which I can't identify or find anywhere. I guess maybe it's at Brookfield Zoo. There is another British Pathe video titled Ming Back At The Zoo (1940) I guess about Ming the giant panda returning from Whipsnade Zoo. Is Desmond Morris still alive?
Dear Wade: I was watching a video on the internet of Chi Chi at Frankfurt Zoo. It's amazing how small she was like the size of a small dog when she was a cub. I can see how that guy Heini Demmer or whatever his name was was able to drive around Europe wirh a giant panda in a crate strapped to the roof of his car. I was just thinking that he should have tried to sell her to Brookfield Zoo at a discount, but that wouldn't make any sense since they couldn't import her. I don't see why Brookfield Zoo wasn't required to pay him the promised $28,000 for her regardless. Finding another zoo to buy her outside of the United States should have been their problem not Demmer's. They could have traded her for animals. Sincerely Paul
ReplyDelete