National Archive Release Reveals Giant Panda Refused to Share Flight With Thatcher
2017-12-29
Newly released national archive records reveal that giant panda Chia-Chia refused to share Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher’s Concorde flight to the United States in 1981. The Panda was due to travel to Washington from London to mate with US based giant Panda, Ching-Ching, and it was suggested she traveled with Margaret Thatcher who was making the same journey.
Official papers, released after 30 years reveal that the Panda refused point blank. In the papers there is a handwritten note from Chia-Chia which reads “Look, I know there’s a bunk up in the offing, and if I go without for much longer it’s going to heal up, but there’s no way I’m getting on a plane with that bitch. I’d rather go without.”
The Bugle understand the pair made the journey separately, but neither mated again.
