In December 1938, five giant pandas were smuggled out of China to England. Four of them
were bought by London Zoo. Photographer Bert Hardy's son, Mike Hardy, poses for a photo
with Ming one of the pandas at London Zoo
Ming, one of four pandas bought by London Zoo was featured in propaganda to boost
British morale during World War II
1946: Young Steffi introduces Pandy the toy panda to Unity the real giant panda,
(formerly Lien Ho) at Regents Park Zoo, London
Twenty years later, in 1958, came a female panda Chi-Chi. She was originally
destined for an American zoo, but at the time Washington had banned all trade with
Communist China. Chi-Chi was branded "communist goods" and was refused entry to
the United States
Chi-Chi became the scene-stealing, star attraction of London Zoo, and remained
the best-loved animal in Britain until her death. As the only giant panda in the west,
Chi-Chi was the inspiration behind Peter Scott's design for a symbol for the World
Wildlife Fund
She was greatly pampered, and often indulged with chocolates by visitors
The Zoological Society of London had previously ruled that they would not encourage
the collection of wild pandas, in the interests of conservation. But since it was pointed
out that Chi-Chi had already been collected, her purchase with assistance from Granada
TV was approved
In the late 1960s her fruitless liaison with Moscow Zoo's An-An made regular front page
news. When she died in July 1972, Chi-Chi was widely mourned
1966: London Zoo's giant panda Chi-Chi seen here back in her quarters after her
unsuccessful mating expedition to Moscow
In 1974 Prime Minister Edward Heath returned from China with two new residents for
London Zoo, female panda Ching-Ching and her male companion Chia-Chia - a result
of China's panda diplomacy initiative
Ching-Ching and Chia-Chia, however with all of the technology and best intentions of London Zoo, failed to produce any offspring
Chia-Chia the panda was given to Britain by the Chinese Government in 1974
Ching-Ching needed almost constant medical attention, and after her death, Chia-Chia
left in 1988 on a breeding loan to Mexico City Zoo, which has a good record of panda
breeding. Ching Ching (seen here on the right) with Chia Chia after her return following
an illness
In the autumn of 1991 Ming-Ming arrived and was followed by a male, Bao Bao, a loan
from Berlin Zoo in hope that they could produce offspring. However, Bao Bao didn't like
Ming Ming. Instead the couple fought savagely, shattering Britain's high hopes for
that extreme rarity, a baby panda born in London
Nowadays almost all pandas exported abroad are on loan rather than donated – and often
their rates are pricey.
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