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"Adventure is worthwhile in itself."--Amelia Earhart "I want to do it because I want to do it. Women must try to do things as men have tried. When they fail, their failure must be a challenge to others."--Amelia Earhart |
By E.B. Masloff
Ruth did not want to sell her Panda, it is clear in her writing that she felt manipulated by the press when she was trying to find the right place to house Su Lin. It almost seemed as if she mocked the press by asking $20,000 for Su Lin, as if she was trying to say that the bear was more precious than money. Ruth wrote that the price was inflated for sensational press and even though it was hurtful to her image, she would survive.
Finally, Ruth allowed the Brookfield Zoo to intervene and help her with the bear. She had hoped to put the bear in the New York Zoo, but they passed at the opportunity because of the price tag.
It was clear where Su Lin would stay, with the same people who studied and funded Colonel Roosevelt’s expedition, the Chicago Brookfield Zoo. Their generous offer was to house Su Lin and fund another expedition to find Su Lin a mate.
The discoveries to follow would lead the way for our modern zoos to change the habitats of animals in captivity. We learned that the bamboo eaten by pandas does not reseed itself, and that pandas can eat about 450 pounds a week when full-grown. We learned that pandas have a dwindling natural preserve, and China fought hard to protect some of it, while many people came forward to devote their lives to the discovery of this species. Zoologists had everything to learn, and we as a country came by the thousands to see the new panda in Chicago. By the late 1940’s more than six pandas would enter zoos in the United States, some as gifts from China and some from Tangier Smith, as well as one from Ruth named Mei Mei. Maybe it was then that the sweet story of Su Lin started to fade.
By today’s standards, the history if Ruth Harkness and the first American Panda was more than a chance to learn about pandas. It is still an amazing feat when any woman thinks of doing what she did. Walking in her footsteps back into a time when there were no maps, there were no laws protecting animals and people were still discovering the country of China and the awesome Himalayas. Even now it is something the seasoned hiker would have to be truly weathered for.
Her setbacks were just part of any triumph. There will be those who want what you have at any cost, and the details of Ruth’s late husband’s partner have been debated by some of the most prestigious magazines. But the only controversy I see is the shanghai of the story by those who wanted to sell false images. The big change in the way we see hunters, thanks to this dynamic duo, is from the hearty brave trophy hunters making a living, to cold-hearted killers selling skins and defeating nature without a fair fight.
In my opinion, Tangier Smith must have been tortured with envy, that a woman with no experience would be able to crush his dream of bringing back the first American panda. The size must have been the final blow. This was his profession, his bread and butter, and he had to claim he was a part of it or it would ruin his reputation as a serious animal collector. This makes her story so preciously believable, baby animals were no sport to the 19th century hunter, they were weak and lowly to them, not as much meat or skin to sell. How many infant creatures have lost their lives due to the fact that their parent was poached and the hunters wanted nothing to do with the little ones. It wasn’t impressive to see a baby animal mounted in a museum or on a wall. These images conjure up sympathy and pity, besides the fact that a baby would have to be taken care of and it would be, undoubtedly, quite non-masculine to do that.
I would hope to emphasize the good this time, and heal the wounds of the past. We celebrate the many living pandas surviving in zoos today and it doesn’t seem all that miraculous to hear about this one little bear that almost wasn’t ours. Images of a bygone era can fade away, but the little panda that taught us to love should forever remain in our hearts as a symbol of change for peace, even when it seems impossible.
Sometimes I believe that we each have to be the one person fighting for our wishes and dreams’ even when the world says it can’t be done. We can just get more inspired to prove them wrong, and we can choose to remember some good about a time that was much like today - a time of loving and celebrating pandas alive in zoos today.
This story is complimented by these wonderful pictures taken by my late grandfather Teen Becksted, who was a close friend of Ruth Harkness, and who was happy to be with her at all her photo events by request.
Love and panda wishes
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This story is complemented by these wonderful pictures taken by my late grandfather Teen Becksted, who was a close friend of Ruth Harkness, and who was happy to be with her at all her photo events by request.
Panda Wishes is an educational panda and children’s story based in this history, illustrated and filled with cherished photocopy originals. For a copy of this book go to panda wishes at: http://members.tripod.com/pandawishes/ Or you can email us at: pandawishes@netzero.net Love and panda wishes
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| American Experience: Around the World in 72 Days (1997) |
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