Tohui or Towi (July 21, 1981 - November 16, 1993) is the name of the second giant panda to be born in captivity outside of China, and the first overseas-born giant panda to survive into adulthood. She became a cultural icon in Mexico. [1]
Tohui is from Tarahumara (the language of the Raramuri) and means "(male) child". (Variants: tohui, toui, towi). When Tohui was born it was believed she was male, and the contrary was only learned after a contest for the name was held. The female equivalent is Tehuete. [1]
The name was proposed by Parménides, a boy from Coahuila, and was chosen from thousands of submissions by a panel that included Cantinflas. [2]
Tohui was born on July 21, 1981, at Chapultepec Zoo in Mexico City. She is the daughter of 'Ying Ying' and 'Pe Pe', a pair of giant pandas gifted to Mexico by the Chinese government on September 10, 1975. In 1980 the couple had their first offspring Xen Li (the first live birth outside China), unfortunately Xen Li lived only eight days.
She had a daughter named Xin Xin, who was conceived naturally [1] with a panda named 'Chia Chia' from the London Zoo.
Tohui died on November 16, 1993, at the age of 12, victim of a crisis of leptospira. Her remains are on display in Chapultepec Zoo along with her parents and her partner Chia Chia.
Following her birth, cameras were installed to monitor her well being (to avoid a repeat of Xen Li who was killed after her mother rolled on her while sleeping). [1] Mexican media were attentive to her condition and as a result of the coverage she received, Tohui became a star in Mexico.
Her presence at Chapultepec catapulted the zoo to fame. The line to visit her reached all the way to the monument of the Niños Héroes. Following her birth, the zoo started to receive considerably more financial support, enough to start its first veterinary hospital. [1]
Her popularity was such that at the request of the then First Lady, Carmen Romano, a song, El pequeño panda de Chapultepec, was created. Composed by Laura Gomez Llanos and performed by singer Yuri. The song went on to sell a million copies. [1]
To celebrate her fifth birthday, the Banco de México minted a commemorative coin, [3] where Tohui appeared in her mother's arms, Ying Ying.
The giant panda, sometimes called a panda bear or simply panda, is a bear species endemic to China. It is characterised by its bold black-and-white coat and rotund body. The name "giant panda" is sometimes used to distinguish it from the red panda, a neighboring musteloid. Though it belongs to the order Carnivora, the giant panda is a folivore, with bamboo shoots and leaves making up more than 99% of its diet. Giant pandas in the wild occasionally eat other grasses, wild tubers, or even meat in the form of birds, rodents, or carrion. In captivity, they may receive honey, eggs, fish, yams, shrub leaves, oranges, or bananas along with specially prepared food.
Panda diplomacy is the practice of sending giant pandas from China to other countries as a tool of diplomacy. From 1941 to 1984, the Chinese government gifted pandas to other countries. Since 1984, they have been leased rather than gifted due to a PRC policy change.
Chapultepec Zoo is a zoo located in Chapultepec Park; it is one of four zoos near Mexico City, and the best known Mexican zoo. It was founded July 6, 1923, by Mexican biologist Alfonso Luis Herrera using donations from private citizens and governmental funds from the Ministry of Agriculture and Development, and also with funds from the Society of Biological Studies.
Hua Mei is a female giant panda. She is the first giant panda cub to survive to adulthood in the United States. She was born to Bai Yun (mother) and Shi Shi (father) at the San Diego Zoo. Millions of people around the world watched Hua Mei grow up via the zoo's Panda Cam.
Su Lin is a female giant panda born at the San Diego Zoo on August 2, 2005. Her name — one of five options in an online poll — means "a little bit of something very cute" in Chinese.
Mei Xiang is a female giant panda who lived at the National Zoo in Washington D.C.
Tian Tian is a 275-pound male giant panda formerly at the National Zoo in Washington D.C. The panda was born on August 27, 1997, at the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda at the Wolong National Nature Reserve in Sichuan Province, to Yong Ba (mother) and Pan Pan (father). Tian Tian is the half-brother of Bai Yun, formerly at the San Diego Zoo.
Lun Lun is a female giant panda at Zoo Atlanta in Atlanta, Georgia. The panda, now 242 pounds (110 kg), was born at the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding in China on August 25, 1997. Her original name, Hua Hua, was changed to Lun Lun by her sponsor, the Taiwanese rock star Su Huilun.
Bai Yun was the first female giant panda who was born at the Wolong Giant Panda Research Center in China. From September 1996 she lived at the San Diego Zoo for more than 20 years, until being returned to China in May 2019. Bai Yun gave birth to her sixth cub in 2012 since arriving at the San Diego Zoo, considered the most surviving pandas born at a breeding facility outside of native China. Bai Yun returned to China with her last-born as the 23-year conservation loan of the pandas came to an end between China and San Diego Zoo Global.
Mei Sheng is a male giant panda born at the San Diego Zoo. He is the second panda to be born at the zoo and is the first offspring of Bai Yun and Gao Gao. He is the half-brother of Hua Mei and the brother of Su Lin, Zhen Zhen, Yun Zi, and Xiao Liwu.
Xin Xin is a female giant panda that lives in the Chapultepec Zoo in Mexico City. Xin Xin was conceived naturally and was born in the Zoo on 1 July 1990. Her mother is Tohui and her father is Chia Chia from the London Zoo . Xin Xin is the only giant panda in the world that doesn't belong to China. Xin Xin can be visited for free during normal Zoo hours.
Chi Chi was a well-known female giant panda at London Zoo in England.
Llena de dulzura is the third album by Mexican iconic pop singer Yuri. It was released on November 25, 1981. It was instant success and the record label went overseas to expand the "yurimania", this album hit Spain, earning the first Gold Album from Spain to a Mexican singer.
Lin Bing is a female giant panda in Thailand. Born on 27 May 2009 at Chiang Mai Zoo in Chiang Mai, Thailand by Gamete intrafallopian transfer (GIFT) to Lin Hui and Chuang Chuang, she is the first giant panda born in Thailand. Her name, meaning the "Forest of Ice", was chosen after a nationwide name selection contest that attracted 22 million votes. "Bing" also sounds similar to the name of the Ping River, which flows through Northern Thailand, where the zoo is located.
Chuang Chuang and Lin Hui were two giant pandas from Sichuan, China on loan to Chiang Mai Zoo in Chiang Mai, Thailand.
Bao Bao is a female giant panda cub who was born at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C. She lived at the Zoo for four years until February 2017. She is currently located at the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda in Sichuan Province. She is the sister of Tai Shan, Bei Bei and Xiao Qi Ji.
Tian Tian is a female panda born on 24 August 2003 at the Beijing Zoo from mother Niu Niu and father Ying Ying, and a former resident at Edinburgh Zoo, Scotland. She arrived in Edinburgh in December 2011 together with a male panda named Yáng Guāng. They were the only two pandas in the United Kingdom. They are on loan from the Bifengxia Breeding Centre in China at a cost of £640,000 per year.
As of 2019, there are 27 zoos in 21 countries outside of mainland China, that have giant pandas. These zoos have contracts with China to house these pandas for a few years. The two exceptions are the three pandas held at Taipei Zoo, which are owned by the Taiwanese government, and one panda held in Mexico. Giant pandas are on the IUCN Red List so part of the reason these contracts exist between China and international zoos is to try to help the species reproduce before they are brought back to their native land. For this reason, pandas are treated very well.
Er Shun is a female giant panda, born at the Chongqing Zoo.