Natural History Museum - Giant Panda

July 5th, 2012.

Did it say where this panda came from?

No, there are no signs anywhere about where the animals come from.

I found out from the zoos website that it was a gift from China and was unveiled in 1985.

What happened to the 1930s/1940s Giant Pandas in the US (Su Lin, Mei Mei and Mei Lan in Brookfield, Pan Dee and Pan Dah at the Bronx< and Happy and Pao Pei in St Louis)? Are any to be seen in a museum?

Su Lin stayed in Chicago and now is at the Field Museum.

I think there are another two pandas in the field museum along with Su Lin so they could be Mei Lan and Mei Mei. Could anyone confirm that?

Theodore Roosevelt shot the other two pandas in China and donated them to the Field museum. The book called Trailing the giant panda by T. Roosevelt and K. Roosevelt, describes the expedition to China and is available on amazon. The pandas were mounted by Carl Akeley.

Check the on-line database of the Field Museum Mammal Collection and you’ll see that there are a number of giant panda specimens listed – including all three zoo animals - as well as those from the Roosevelt expedition.