The Black-and-White Bear
When a French missionary sent a black-and-white bear's skin to Paris in 1869, few in the West could picture such an animal.
What was reported
In 1869 the French missionary and naturalist Armand David, working at Baoxing (then called Moupin) in western Sichuan, was shown the skin of a black-and-white bear by local hunters. He sent specimens to the natural history museum in Paris, where it was described for science.
For decades few Westerners saw one alive. The first live panda to leave China was taken to the United States in 1936 by Ruth Harkness.
Explanations offered
The giant panda is a true bear, adapted to a diet almost entirely of bamboo. It became a symbol of conservation, chosen as the WWF's logo in 1961. In 2016 it was moved from 'endangered' to 'vulnerable' as numbers in the wild recovered.
- When
- Described in 1869
- Where
- Baoxing, Sichuan, China
- Witnesses
- Local hunters, and the missionary Armand David
- Status
- Confirmed
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.