Giant Panda History

Traveling back in time, the history of when it all began came to March 11, 1869. A pelt of panda fur was given to French Jesuit, Armand David by a hunter. Mr. David wrote in his journal, “When I was on my way back to the church, I was incited to have a rest in Mr. Li’s home. In his home, I saw the panda’s skin. It was big and beautiful colored black and white. The skin was quite peculiar. Li told me that I would see this animal very soon, for his hunters were going to hunt this animal; it seemed that a new species in the science domain will be found.” On March 23, 1869, he wrote once more, “After leaving for 10 days, the hunters were back today. They brought a young white bear to me. It was caught alive, but was killed to bring back more easily.” (Western naming of Giant Panda in
The news soon spread and westerns from all around the whole would travel to china to kill giant pandas with their own hands such as; Sage and Sheldon from the United States of America, Shaffer from Germany and Brockhurst from the United Kingdom. This was the beginning of a mass hunting spree and buying giant pandas. (World Interest in Giant Panda, n.d.) In 1936; exactly seven years after the first killings of giant panda, a living giant panda was then brought to America. (History of the Giant Panda, 2004) The person who brought Su-Lin; named later on, was an American fashion designer named Ruth Harkness. Her husband, William Harkness; an adventurer and zoologist, went to China to capture giant pandas. Following in his footsteps, Ruth went to Wenchuang County of Sichuan Province, then to Baoxing county where David; the first explorer to encounter a giant panda pelt, was. William Harkness never got the chance to see a giant panda as he died before getting to enter the habitat of giant