The first "panda" specimen
Panda is a species that embarrassed both bears and cats. Although it is defined as Xiong Ke by biologists, this does not hinder its charm. /kloc-In the 9th century, pandas lived widely in Sichuan, a land of abundance, and were called "bamboo bears" by local people. They are gentle and like to eat bamboo.
1862, French missionary David came to live in China. During this period, he heard that there are many "magical" animals in Sichuan, so he left Shanghai for Sichuan. Seven years later, David passed by a family in Baoxing County, Sichuan Province, and found the skin of an unknown animal hanging on the wall. After asking, David learned that this animal is called "bamboo bear", which is later the national treasure giant panda.
At that time, there were a large number of pandas, so it was not against the law to kill them. David found more than 20 hunters. 1869 In March, he finally caught a panda cub, but it was dead. In May of the same year, David got another panda cub. On my way home, I died on the road before I could take it out because I was unwell.
Photo: French missionary David
David had to make a specimen and take it back to France. Even the specimens caused a great shock in western countries, and a "panda fever" was set off for a while. Countless foreign adventurers are obsessed with this, and seeing its huge business opportunities, they frequently come to China to steal giant pandas, including harkness, the husband of Ruth, the hero of this article.
Ruth, the panda wife who stole two giant pandas from China.
1936, Ruth and her husband just got married for two weeks, and her husband went to China, hoping to bring back some pandas. Unfortunately, harkness died in Shanghai shortly after arriving in China, which brought great pain to Ruth.
In April of the same year, in order to fulfill her husband's "last wish", Ruth and an American partner came to Wenchuan, Sichuan. Five months later, she successfully found a panda cub, and Ruth named it "Su Lin". I was in trouble when I was on a ship bound for America.
Photo: Mrs. Ruth the Panda.
Interestingly, the trouble was not stealing pandas, because at that time, people in China had not started to pay attention to pandas. Her trouble lies in the formalities, because the formalities were not complete and she was forbidden to board the ship, and finally she barely passed the "bribe". When we arrived in America, countless people rushed to meet us. Americans like this naive little guy very much.
Ruth also gained a lot of wealth and popularity because of Surin. Major zoos rushed to buy them and finally sold them to Brookfield Zoo in Chicago at a sky-high price of $8,750. What is the concept of $8,750? In the 1930s, about 40,000 RMB was converted into RMB, which allowed ordinary people to live a decent life.
Surin's "success" has made countless foreigners more jealous of this "business opportunity". According to statistics, in the following years, the United States took nine pandas from China, and it was not until the 1940s that China imposed restrictions on this behavior. Because of this decision, it is still a question whether we can see pandas now.
How did Ruth end up?
After taking Su Lin away, Ruth came to China again and took a little panda named Meimei away. Unfortunately, Surin and Meimei died a few years later for different reasons. Ruth came to Sichuan for the third time, but this time she was desperately resisted by the giant panda. Her partner had to kill her in order to steal the panda next to her.
Perhaps out of conscience, Ruth released the panda and never organized such activities again. After returning to America, he wrote the book "Madam and Panda", which was highly praised. 1974, Ruth died of illness in America. The words "Mrs. ruth harkness Panda" are written on the tombstone, which seems to explain her "special" life.