panda craze around the world

Since the first introduction of panda by David to the world in 1869, there has benn a panda craze in western countries. A lot of zoologists, explorers, and hunters came to China to capture pandas. However, pandas live in solitude and are hard to be found.

King of panda – Smith

　　 According to historical records, two Russians got a piece of panda fur in Sichuan from 1891 to 1894. in 1900, a German got a piece of panda fur from the merchant and captured a young panda in Wenchuan, Sichuan in 1916, who became the first person to have a live panda. Early in 1897, the British man got a specimen of a male panda in Sichuan. The British man F.T.Smith was famous as the king of panda because he had captured the most pandas. He spent 20 years in China and bought 12 live pandas from 1936 to 1938.
　　 The persons who came to China to hunt pandas earliest are the sons of former president Roosevelt. In 1928, two sons came to Baoxing County of Sichuan but did not capture pandas. They moved to Yuesi County and hunted a female adult panda by gun, which was the first time to hunt pandas by gun. After that, there have been Americans, Germans and British men hunting pandas by gun. A lot more people bought pandas at high price. Today, panda specimens can still be found in museums around the world.

　　In the modern times, the first person who took panda out of China is a woman designer named Lucy Harkners. Her husband was a zoologist and explorer. He came to China to look for pandas after their marriage, but he died in China before he came to Sichuan. Then, Mrs. Harkner came to China to continue the work of her husband. With an SinoAmerican guide and two interpreters, she started her journey in Sichuan. In Baoxing County, she looked for pandas.

Mrs. Harkner

　　 In the bamboo forests 2000m under the Jiajin Mountain, she discovered a cub panda which was only 30 days old. Lucy was excited and took care of it as her child. And she gave it a nice name Sulin. With the help of her friend, putting the panda in a basket and telling people of Customs it was a dog, she took the panda on a ship and went back to America. In the spring of 1937, when Sulin was exhibited in the zoo of Chicago, it became a star and there were more than 40 thousand visitors every day. Then, there has been a panda craze around the world. From 1936 to 1941, nine live pandas were hunted by Americans. From 1869 to 1946, more than 200 foreigners came to investigate, collect, capture, hunt or buy pandas or panda specimens. From 1936 to 1946, there were 16 live pandas taken out of China, and there are at least 70 panda specimens in the museums of other countries.