“I have learned how to take a compliment because I'm not usually offered any.”
First giant panda living in U.S.In 1937, the first giant panda to live outside China, Su Lin, was acquired by Brookfield Zoo, Chicago, U.S., from Ruth Harkness who brought the infant back from an expedition into the bamboo forests of the mountains between Tibet and China. She sailed back to Manhattan, arriving 18 Dec 1936. Su Lin caused a media sensation. She first offered the panda to the Bronx Zoo, New York, in return for funding her next expedition, but they declined. Instead, the Brookfield Zoo underwrote her next quest for another panda. Su Lin was first exhibited there to the public in August 1937, and the zoo had its highest attendance since its opening day. The public loved Su Lin and attitudes changed to reject any trophy hunt to ever shoot a panda.«[Image: Ruth Harkness with Su Lin] |
