Chi Chi
Chi Chi ( Chinese 姬 姬 , Pinyin Jī Jī ; * 1954 or 1955 or 1957 in Sichuan , China ; † July 22, 1972 in London , Great Britain ) was a female giant panda that has been kept at the London Zoo since 1958 .
Life
The animal was captured in Baoxing , Sichuan in May 1955 and taken to the Beijing Zoo in June . In May 1957, the Soviet head of state Kliment Voroshilov ordered a panda for the Moscow zoo while visiting China . That same month, Chi Chi and another panda were sent to Moscow. The hope for offspring was not fulfilled there. As a result, Chi Chi was returned to China in January 1958 in exchange for a conspecific.
In May of the same year the Austrian animal dealer Heini Demmer bought Chi Chi in exchange for a large number of African ungulates and brought them back to Moscow. From there, the female panda was loaned to Tierpark Berlin for a few weeks in August . The East Berlin zoo, founded only a few years earlier, celebrated a politically significant prestige success compared to the Berlin zoo in the western part of the city.
At that time Chi Chi was already sold to the Brookfield Zoo near Chicago . The US Treasury Department forbade this purchase because there was a trade embargo against “goods” from the People's Republic of China . Demmer initially brought the animal temporarily to Frankfurt Zoo . He then loaned it to the Copenhagen Zoo . Finally, Chi Chi arrived in London on September 5, 1958.
Although initially only a few weeks' stay was planned here, the Zoological Society of London eventually acquired the panda bear as the property of the London Zoo . For many years, Chi Chi was one of the main attractions here. Another stay from March to October 1966 at the Moscow Zoo, where a male panda was kept, again brought no breeding success.
Chi Chi died in London on July 22, 1972. The animal's body was dissected and is on display in the Natural History Museum in London.
Trivia
The popular animal is considered to be the inspiration for the WWF logo designed by Peter Markham Scott .
Chi Chi at London Zoo, September 1967
Specimen in the Natural History Museum in London
WWF logo
Overview: Pandas in Berlin
The following table gives an overview of the giant pandas kept in zoological facilities in the city of Berlin.
| Surname | Life dates | gender | Facility | Time in Berlin |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Happy | September 1935 - March 10, 1946 | male | zoo | 1939 (63 days) |
| Chi Chi | 1955 (?) - July 22, 1972 | Female | Animal park | 2nd to 26th August 1958 |
| Tjen Tjen | (?) - February 8, 1984 | Female | zoo | November 5, 1980 - February 8, 1984 |
| Bao Bao | 1978 - August 22, 2012 | male | zoo | November 5, 1980 - August 22, 2012 |
| Yan Yan | 1985 - March 26, 2007 | Female | zoo | April 14, 1995 - March 26, 2007 |
| Meng Meng | born July 10, 2013 | Female | zoo | since June 23, 2017 |
| Meng Xiang | born August 31, 2019 | male | zoo | born in the Berlin zoo |
| Meng Yuan | born August 31, 2019 | male | zoo | born in the Berlin zoo |
Remarks
- ↑ Various sources give 1957 as the year of birth. However, given the future sequence of appointments, this is likely to be wrong.