Get ready for Pandamonium!
By Peter Hartlaub May 7, 2024 - San Francisco Chronicle
The first giant pandas arrived in the United States in the 1930s and early ’40s, costing more than $10,000 each and settling in zoos in Chicago and New York.
But before that happened they were San Francisco tourists, arriving by plane and ocean liner, with several staying in Union Square at the Hotel St. Francis on the way to their new homes.
When San Francisco Mayor London Breed returned from China two weeks ago with an agreement to send pandas to the San Francisco Zoo, the news broke with the background that pandas only lived here once previously: in 1984 and 1985, when a full-grown male and female stayed at the San Francisco Zoo for two three-month visits as part of a global tour.
That’s technically true. But there’s a panda loophole. When the very first bears started traveling to the U.S. from China from 1936 to 1941, almost all touched down in San Francisco. They usually stayed a night or two — often in a special panda room at the Hotel St. Francis.
The first U.S. pandas were San Francisco tourists (with suites at the Hotel St. Francis)
Greg
Water off a Duck's Back
