From the February 29, 1936, issue
By Science News
GIANT “RACCOON-BEARS,” DISPLAYED AT MUSEUM
Pandas, among the rarest and most puzzling of large fur-bearing animals, will be represented at the American Museum of Natural History by a pair of handsome specimens which have been placed on display.
A photograph of the pair appears on the cover of this week’s Science News Letter.
Pandas live in the higher plateaus of interior Asia. They are about the size of black bears, which they resemble in many respects, but they are apparently more nearly related to the raccoons. Their fur is strikingly divided into golden-yellow and dark-brown areas, and they have curious, spectacle-like rings around their eyes. Their fur is much valued by Chinese natives, but owing to the rarity of the animals it does not enter Western commerce.