3-021-429 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

The Ailurus fulgens at the Zoological Society's Gardens, Regent's Park, 1869. 'Our Illustration shows the first specimen of this remarkable animal, from the elevated region of Thibet, which has been brought alive to Europe. It is sometimes called the wah, sometimes the panda; Dr. Jerdon gave it the name of the cat-bear...Its fur is dense and somewhat long; the upper parts of the body are of a deep ochreous-red...displayed on the tail are dark rings..."This very curious and richly-coloured animal," writes Dr. Jerdon, "is a denizen of the south-eastern Himalayas, having been only taken in Nepaul and Sikhim...". It eats fruits, roots, sprouts of bamboo, acorns, &c: also, it is said, eggs, and young birds; also milk and ghee (a preparation of butter), which it is said occasionally to purloin from the villages...they are free from any offensive odour. They drink by lapping with the tongue, hiss and spit like cats when angered, and now and then utter a sharp, deep grunt like that of a young bear...Mr. Bartlett, the judicious superintendent of the Zoological Society's collection, has provided it with a wholesome diet of oatmeal porridge and arrowroot, which it seems to like'. From "Illustrated London News", 1869.