Chi Chi
姬姬
71 years old
ZSL London Zoo
Chi Chi (姬姬, studbook #110) was a female giant panda discovered in Baoxing, Sichuan in 1955 and sent to London Zoo in 19...
View profilePlace archive
ZSL London Zoo
zoo London, United Kingdom
ZSL London Zoo, located in Regent's Park, Greater London, is the world's oldest scientific zoo, founded in 1828 by the Zoological Society of London (ZSL), a global conservation charity established by Sir Stamford Raffles and Sir Humphry Davy. The site houses over 20,000 individuals representing 698 species, including critically endangered Asiatic lions (Panthera leo persica) native exclusively to India's Sasan Gir National Park, Humboldt penguins (Spheniscus humboldti) listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, and the only wild population of northern water voles (Arvicola amphibius) found in central London. It is a full member of BIAZA, EAZA, and WAZA, coordinating cross-institutional breeding programs with partners including ZSL Whipsnade Zoo and Edinburgh Zoo to support at-risk species recovery. The zoo's historical giant panda resident Chi Chi, acquired in 1958, became the inspiration for the WWF global panda logo, catal
ZSL London Zoo houses giant pandas under international loan agreement with the China Conservation and Research Center, as part of the cooperative panda diplomacy and ex-situ conservation network.
How this page is organized
Start with the pandas, then move outward into the surrounding archive
This page gathers the residents linked to ZSL London Zoo, the key moments recorded here, nearby institutions, and the articles that add context.
Resident archive
Pandas connected to this place
2 pandas recorded
Previously recorded here
Pandas that were once linked to this institution.
Ming
明
89 years old
ZSL London Zoo
Ming (明, studbook #9), originally named Bei Bei (贝贝), was a female giant panda captured in Sichuan around 1938 and broug...
View profileRecorded moments
Archive timeline at ZSL London Zoo
1972
Jul 22
Chi Chi Dies at London Zoo
Chi Chi, the most famous giant panda in the West and WWF logo inspiration, was euthanized at age 18 at London Zoo.
Read update 1961
Jul 17
Chi Chi Inspires WWF Logo
Sir Peter Scott sketched Chi Chi at London Zoo, creating the iconic World Wildlife Fund panda logo used worldwide today.
Read update 1958
Sep 26
Chi Chi Arrives at London Zoo
Chi Chi arrived at London Zoo after an animal exchange via Austria, becoming the only giant panda in the Western world.
Read update 1958
Jan 1
1944
Dec 26
Ming Dies at London Zoo
Ming, the beloved WWII-era panda who boosted British morale, died at London Zoo. A statue was gifted in her honor in 2015.
Read update 1938
Dec 24
Ming Arrives at London Zoo
Ming (then called Baby) arrived at London Zoo on Christmas Eve along with four other pandas after a perilous journey from China.
Read updateIn the library
Further reading on ZSL London Zoo
Featured
Culture 📚 general
Pandas in Art: From Ancient Ink to Modern Street Murals
Long before pandas appeared on stamps, coins, and Olympic mascots, they inhabited Chinese visual culture — tentatively at first, as strange bears in the margins of imperial bestiaries, and then, explosively, as the subject of 20th-century ink paintings, propaganda posters, contemporary installations, and global street art. This article traces the panda's journey through art history: how visual artists across cultures have interpreted, mythologized, and commercialized the panda's image.
1 panda
art painting art-history
+2
Featured
Culture 📚 general
From WWF Logo to Olympic Mascot: How Panda Became the World's Strongest IP
The giant panda is the most recognizable animal symbol on Earth — the logo of the World Wildlife Fund since 1961, the face of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, and the star of a Hollywood film franchise that has grossed over $1.8 billion. This article traces the panda's journey from obscure mountain bear to global cultural icon, examining the design choices, the diplomatic moments, and the universal psychological appeal that make the panda an unmatched visual brand.
2 pandas
logo brand mascot
+2
Featured
Culture 📚 general
80 Years of Panda Diplomacy: From Wartime Gifts to Global Research Loans
Trace the transformation of giant panda diplomacy from 1941, when Soong Mei-ling gifted the first pandas to America, through the landmark 1972 Nixon-era exchange, to today's international research loan agreements that channel millions of dollars annually into wild habitat conservation. This is the untold story of how a reclusive mountain bear became the world's most powerful diplomatic animal.
2 pandas
diplomacy history panda-loan
+2
World map
Where this place sits in the wider panda world
Click a marker to open the place page Panda counts reflect current archive records
📍 All Locations
Coordinates: 51.5353 N, 0.1534 W
Archive notes
About ZSL London Zoo
ZSL London Zoo, located in Regent's Park, Greater London, is the world's oldest scientific zoo, founded in 1828 by the Zoological Society of London (ZSL), a global conservation charity established by Sir Stamford Raffles and Sir Humphry Davy. The site houses over 20,000 individuals representing 698 species, including critically endangered Asiatic lions (Panthera leo persica) native exclusively to India's Sasan Gir National Park, Humboldt penguins (Spheniscus humboldti) listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, and the only wild population of northern water voles (Arvicola amphibius) found in central London. It is a full member of BIAZA, EAZA, and WAZA, coordinating cross-institutional breeding programs with partners including ZSL Whipsnade Zoo and Edinburgh Zoo to support at-risk species recovery. The zoo's historical giant panda resident Chi Chi, acquired in 1958, became the inspiration for the WWF global panda logo, catal