ZSL London Zoo Moscow Zoo Giant Panda 'AnAn'

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Pertinax

Well-Known Member
15+ year member
Do any of our other older members remember seeing the Moscow Giant Panda 'AnAn' at London Zoo in 1969 ?

Catman would like to see photos if possible- I have one but currently no idea where. This was on AnAn's failed mission(but not his fault!)to breed with ChiChi in 1969. Any photos of him/them would be of much interest I'm sure.
 
I know I'm an 'older member', but not old enough to have seen An An.
I think I visited Regents Park for the first time in 1971, by which time Chi Chi was an old lady, living next to an onager called Jack in the old Deer and Cattle sheds, more or less where the lion enclosure is now.

Alan
 
aw, thankyou very much for starting this threat pertinax:), any photo's of chi-chi and any other london panda would be appreciated. As you may be able to tell, i've come over with a case of pandamonium and im simply obsessed with them. My Grandparents have pictures of Chia-Chia and Ching-Ching somewhere and everytime i get a chance to go down there im searching through all the cupboards and loft, it's simply not healthy:D, but thankyou very much all:)
 
Pertinax said:
Do any of our other older members remember seeing the Moscow Giant Panda 'AnAn' at London Zoo in 1969 ?

Catman would like to see photos if possible- I have one but currently no idea where. This was on AnAn's failed mission(but not his fault!)to breed with ChiChi in 1969. Any photos of him/them would be of much interest I'm sure.
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I recall seeing 'An An' several times at London Zoo (in one of the enclosures in the old Deer & Cattle Sheds); unfortunately, though, I have no photographs of him.
 
thankyou very much tim:), do you have anyphoto's of chi-chi, chia-chia, ching-ching, ming-ming or bao-bao whilst they were in london? thanks:)
 
Cat-Man said:
thankyou very much tim:), do you have anyphoto's of chi-chi, chia-chia, ching-ching, ming-ming or bao-bao whilst they were in london? thanks:)
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I have some somewhere; it will take me a while to find them though!
 
could i ask you to dig them out for me please?;) i am very interested in london's panda's at the moment (and if you read the personal vision of london part 2 threat you'd know i'd love too see them return). you've been very helpful in the past with my quest for infomation on the 'old' london zoo, thankyou so much:)
 
Cat-Man said:
could i ask you to dig them out for me please?
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I’ll try to find them.

I agree with the advice from Pertinax in another thread; try to get hold of a copy of the book “Men and Pandas” (by Desmond and Ramona Morris) which has a lot of information about London Zoo giant pandas.
 
Tim May said:
I agree with the advice from Pertinax in another thread; try to get hold of a copy of the book “Men and Pandas” (by Desmond and Ramona Morris) which has a lot of information about London Zoo giant pandas.
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If Catman is currently so interested in Pandas, the book is an absolute must for him. It has a lot of detail about ChiChi's visit(s) to Moscow though not much on AnAn in London I don't think.

I must say all Pandas look alike to me;) but the history of different
individuals is of course the main interest.

Looks like I'm still the only person with an 'AnAn' photo somewhere. After the first few weeks after he arrived, I never took much notice of him anymore!
 
Cat-Man said:
My Grandparents have pictures of Chia-Chia and Ching-Ching somewhere and everytime i get a chance to go down there im searching through all the cupboards and loft, it's simply not healthy:
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London Zoo produced at least nine different postcards of ChingChing & ChiaChia (or the single ChiaChia) maybe more, and they regularly turn up on Ebay if you want to see or purchase them.

There are also a number of ChiChi and b/w ones of earlier London Pandas e.g. Ming.
 
Pertinax said:
There are also a number of ChiChi and b/w ones of earlier London Pandas e.g. Ming.
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There are about two dozen different London Zoo postcards from the late nineteen thirties depicting the famous giant panda 'Ming'; many are very anthropomorphic images....

There is also a Second World War postcard featuring one of the early London Zoo giant pandas at Whipsnade; I'm not sure if that depicts Ming or one of the other specimens.
 
Tim May said:
There are about two dozen different London Zoo postcards from the late nineteen thirties depicting the famous giant panda 'Ming'; many are very anthropomorphic images....
.
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I never realised there were that many. I've seen some of them- on a chair, on a wall, pushing a pram? The one that seems to be commonest is the one with the two young Princesses; Elizabeth and Margaret, and an Alsatian Dog.
 
Pertinax said:
If Catman is currently so interested in Pandas, the book is an absolute must for him. It has a lot of detail about ChiChi's visit(s) to Moscow though not much on AnAn in London I don't think.

I must say all Pandas look alike to me;) but the history of different
individuals is of course the main interest.

Looks like I'm still the only person with an 'AnAn' photo somewhere. After the first few weeks after he arrived, I never took much notice of him anymore!
Click to expand...

Just seen this. An-An visited London in 1968/69, by which time Desmond Morris had left London Zoo. From memory the book predates An-An's visit.
 
IanRRobinson said:
Just seen this. An-An visited London in 1968/69, by which time Desmond Morris had left London Zoo. From memory the book predates An-An's visit.
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You are correct of course. Desmond Morris was no longer Curator there when I saw AnAn in London Zoo.
 
IanRRobinson said:
Just seen this. An-An visited London in 1968/69, by which time Desmond Morris had left London Zoo. From memory the book predates An-An's visit.
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You are, of course, correct Ian; the original version of “Men and Pandas” (Desmond & Ramona Morris) was published before An-An came to London Zoo.

It's worth mentioning, though, that there was an updated version, with some revisions by Jon Barzdo, published in 1981. This subsequent edition does cover the visit of An-An to London Zoo.
 
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