This is the giant panda ‘Grandma’, one of five, including the famous ‘Ming’, that arrived at London Zoo on Christmas Eve 1938; this particular animal was short-lived and died in January 1939.
Tim, would you know why such a rare and historic animal ended up in a museum all the way up in Leeds? (i.e. instead of at the National Museum of Natural History in London or some other prominent natural history museum in the UK. Or is the Leeds one more famous than I may realise?)
Tim, would you know why such a rare and historic animal ended up in a museum all the way up in Leeds? (i.e. instead of at the National Museum of Natural History in London or some other prominent natural history museum in the UK. Or is the Leeds one more famous than I may realise?)
Sorry, Baldur, I don’t know the history of how this specimen ended up in Leeds; I assume, though, that the Natural History Museum in South Kensington, London, would have already had giant panda material so did not need another specimen.
(The Leeds Museum also contains the mounted skin of ‘Mok’ one of the London Zoo gorillas from the 1930s; in addition, there is a nicely mounted thylacine in Leeds too. )
My guess would be the Nat His museum decided he didn't fit with their style of exhibits anymore so he became surplus. A Mounted specimen isn't as easy to store as a skin because of space. So they were probably prepared because of space issues to allow him to go to another museum which valued him as an exhibit. I was interested to hear this is where he is now.
