The scientific name means simply "panda footed black and white creature "
Fossil Record: The fossil record of the giant panda is incomplete. Some intermediate stages have been suggested. A small bear like animal, Agriarctos, that lived in the mid Miocene(about 3 millon years ago) is an ancestor of the giant panda. The fossils of the present day giant panda can be found from the Early Pleistocene. There may have been as many as 4 species of Ailuropoda. Fossils of Ailuropoda microta, one species, was found to have lived in the early Pleistocene. They were about 1/2 the size of present day pandas. Fossils of Ailuropoda melanoleuca, the present day giant panda, appear in the mid Pleistocene. The distribution of giant pandas was much more extensive in the Pleistocene. Fossils have been found in present day Burma and Vietnam.
In Ancient Chinese History: In the
Western Chou dynasty (over 3000 yrs ago), two books : The Book of
History and The Book of Songs take note of an animal "Pi"
that resembles a panda. Pi or pixiu are ancient
chinese names for the giant panda. In the Qui dynasty ( 221-207 BC ),
the earliest dictonary describes the mo, the giant panda, as a
white leopard with a small head, short limbs and black and white
markings. It is said to have eaten copper, iron, and bamboo stems.
The Annotated Readings of the Book of Songs, refer to an animal
zhu yi or bai hu as an animal resembling a white bear.
With the many names and different discriptions it becomes hard to
tell if the discriptions are of a giant panda or another animal.
In ancient China the giant panda was considered rare and a symbol of
might and bravery. The panda has been apart of Chinese culture for over
2000 yrs. When the Empress Dowager Bo (179-163 BC) tomb was opened
2100 yrs after her death, a giant panda skull was found along side her.
A historian noted that in the Western Han dynasty(206 BC - 24 AD) the emporor had a garden of rare species, the giant
panda was his most treasured animal. The first emporor of the Tang
dynasty is said to have once held a banquet where he honored 14
subjects by presenting them with panda skins. His grandson son is said to have sent two live pandas with several pelts
to Japan to help seal trade agreements.
Introduction to the Western World:
The giant panda was not known outside of China until a French missionary and naturalist Pere
Armand David is brought a dead specimen by hunters on March 23 1869. He writes:
"My Cristian hunters returned today after a ten-day absence. They bring me a white bear, which they took alive but unfortunately killed so that it could be carried more easily, The young white bear, which they sell me very dearly, is all white except for the legs, ears and around the eyes, which are deep black. The colours are the same as those I saw in the skin of an adult bear the other day at the home of Li, the hunter. This must be a new species of "Ursus", very remarkable not only because of its colour, but also for its paws which are hairy underneath, and for other characteristics."
Later in 1869, he describes the panda to Alphonse Milne-Edwards:
"As my collection will not arrive in Paris for some time, I would ask you to Publish quickly the following brief description of a bear which appears to be new to science. Ursus melanoleuca A.D. Very large according to my hunters. Ears short. Hair fairly short; beneath the four feet very hairy. Colours: white, with the ears, the surrounding of the eyes, the tip of the tail and four legs brownish black........The colours are always the same and equally distributed. I have not seen this species, which is easily the prettiest kind of animal I know, in the museums of Europe; perhaps it is new to science!"
In 1870, Alphonse Milne-Edwards received Pere Daivids specimen and upon dissecting it he found that many characterists were unlike that of a bear and more similar to the red panda, Ailurus fulgens. He placed the giant panda in a new genus, Ailuropoda melanoleuca. He later renamed the giant panda Ailuropus (panda-like) seeing a resemblece to the red panda, stating that Ailuropoda was a name already in use. Aeluropus, the latin spelling of Ailuropus was also used in scientific literature to refer to the giant panda. For a period of time these three names Ailuropoda, Ailuropus, and Aeluropus were used in scientific literature. In some places, even the common name "panda" was taken to mean either the giant or red panda.
In 1914, the first westerner to see alive panda was a German zoologist Hugo Weigold.
This set off a string of western hunters seeking a giant panda pelt. Amoung the the first western hunters to kill a giant panda was Kermit and Theodore Roosevelt in 1928. They were the sons of president Theodore Roosevelt. On April 24 1939, China issued an order that prohibited the capture of giant pandas.
Ruth Harkness was the first person to introduce alive panda cub (Su ling) to the western world. Her adventure can be read in her book "The Lady and the Panda." The panda cub was brought tothe Brookfiels Zoo in Chicago in 1936. Pandas became the animal for zoos to aquire. Three other pandas were captured and taken to the U.S in the 1930's, Mei Mei, Pandora, and Pan. Pao Pei was the last panda that was captured and exported by a western nation. By 1945 there were only five giant pandas outside China. In 1953, there were NO giant pandas alive in CAPTIVITY anywhere...even China. In 1957, the panda Ping Ping was sent to the Moscow Zoo as a gift.
Famous ??? Giant Pandas: Besides the first panda the west
saw, Su ling there have been many other pandas to win the
publics hearts. Such as Chi Chi (Naughty girl)....at the
London Zoo in 1958. In 1972 when China was recognized the the U.S.,
two pandas were a gift to the U.S. Hsing Hsing
and Ling Ling (She died in 1992 at age 23) reside
at the National Zoo in Washington D.C.. Bai Yun and Shi
Shi currently reside at the San Diego
Zoo.
Liturature used in writting this page can be found by looking at
my source code.
ailuropoda@hotmail.com