Tokyo’s Beloved Ling Ling Dies
Posted by: Loren Coleman on April 30th, 2008
(Photography by Nekomama7, Panda Fan Club.)
Giant pandas are one of the foremost and classic “Animals of Discovery” in cryptozoology. While taken for granted as existing today, we have not even reached the hundredth year anniversary of the first live capture of the giant panda by Ruth Harkness and Quentin Young. Su-Lin, a Tibetan giant panda, was brought to Chicago’s Brookfield Zoo in 1936.
Ling Ling, the only giant panda owned by Japan, died of old age Wednesday, April 30, 2008, at Tokyo’s Ueno Zoo, where he had been one of the most popular attractions, officials said.
Visitors to the zoo pressed their hands together in prayer on learning the news and placed flowers on a makeshift altar.
Officials said the zoo would open Ling Ling’s enclosure to mourners after decorating it with flowers and bamboo.
“Ling Ling was a representative of our zoo,” said zookeeper Motoyasu Ida.
“He died peacefully. I think he lived a full life.”
Ling Ling’s death comes just days before Chinese President Hu Jintao is set to pay a landmark visit to Tokyo during which zoo officials are hoping for an agreement that will bring another panda to Japan.
“We strongly hope that his successor will come to our zoo from China and that some positive message would come during the Chinese president’s visit,” Ida said.
He said that at 22 years and seven months old, Ling Ling had been the equivalent age of a 70-year-old human.
The animal died a day after the zoo stopped public viewing as Ling Ling had suffered heart and kidney malfunction due to old age.
He was the only giant panda belonging to Japan. Another eight pandas are in Japan but all are leased by Chinese authorities.
Zookeepers tried but failed to encourage Ling Ling to mate with visiting pandas. Ueno’s female panda, Tong Tong, died in 2000.
China has a long tradition of offering pandas reared in its southwestern province of Sichuan as gifts to foreign governments to improve ties.
Giant pandas have helped put themselves on the list of the world’s most endangered species because of an apparent lack of interest in sex, which experts have sought to remedy with everything from Viagra to pornographic videos.
Ling Ling, born in Beijing Zoo in 1985, was given to Ueno Zoo in 1992 in exchange for a Japanese-born panda to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the restoration of diplomatic relations between the two countries.
Hu is due to visit Japan from May 6-10 for what will be only the second trip by a Chinese head of state to Tokyo.
Relations between the countries have long been tense, in part due to the legacy of Japanese aggression before World War II.
(Photography by Nekomama7, Panda Fan Club.)
The Ueno Zoo tracks the heritage and offspring of its giant pandas on this display.
Ueno Zoo’s Ling Ling is not to be confused with the USA National Zoo’s Ling Ling (directly above).
(Photography by Kim Vilardi, prints of which may be purchased here.)
Call me an idiot, but somehow I can’t help but wondering if this is some sort of “omen” tied with the terrible news we’ve seen about riots and repression in Tibet. 100 days from today the Olimpic games open and this magnificent animal, a member of a species that has become the most popular symbol of China, dies without leaving any offspring.
Like I said, call me an idiot.
Rest in peace Ling Ling.
You COULD have a point there, RED_PILL_JUNKIE.
RIP, LING-LING.