Chasing the Panda: How an Unlikely Pair of Adventurers Won the Race to Capture the Mythical "White Bear" [Hardcover]

Michael Kiefer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 19, 2002

In 1936, Quentin Young, a 22-year-old Chinese American, led American socialite Ruth Harkness on a 1,500-mile expedition into the remote mountains of Sichuan. Braving warlords and primitive tribes, the duo captured a giant panda and brought it back alive, the first time a live panda had been seen by the Western world. Hunters and scientists assumed the pair had stolen the animal. When it became clear the find was genuine, Ruth Harkness became a celebrity. But Quentin Young, together with his brother and fellow guide, Jack, was swept into the chaos of World War II and became a spy. A few years ago, Michael Kiefer discovered Quentin, now elderly and living in the United States. The resulting book sets the record straight.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Wealthy American widow Ruth Harkness became famous in 1936 for bringing the first live giant panda to the United States, but little has been known about the two Chinese-American hunters who led Harkness on her trek through the Sichuan mountains in search of the panda. Kiefer, a freelance writer and former Outside magazine editor, tells the story of Quentin and Jack Young, dashing naturalists and adventurers. Kiefer first met Quentin in the late 1980s and spoke with both brothers (by then estranged), though he spent more time with Quentin. At the time of the expedition, the Young brothers and Harkness knew little about pandas (Quentin actually admits that he hated them), and Kiefer doesn't whitewash the cruelty of their mission. In the 1930s, only a handful of Westerners had seen these animals, and swashbucklers such as Theodore Roosevelt's sons, Ted Jr. and Kermit, had made a sport of hunting them. Once Chicago's Brookfield Zoo bought Harkness's panda, other zoos began to covet their own specimens, setting off a legacy of panda hunting that led to the animals' becoming endangered. At the same time, the author obviously admires Quentin, though he's aware how unfashionable and morally dubious his lifestyle as a hunter is considered today. As he puts it, "Quentin Young is the last specimen of an endangered species: the early twentieth century explorer-adventurer-naturalist." Readers interested in either this or the more traditional kind of endangered species will enjoy this well-researched, nuanced tale.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

Adult/High School-The excitement and, depending on readers' sensitivity about hunting, the gore that surrounded one panda's journey from its natural habitat to an Illinois zoo in 1936 are part of this story. The true tale, however, lies in the relationship of those doing the chasing, in particular, Quentin Young, a neophyte naturalist in China who was challenged by his older brother, Jack Young, a celebrated expeditionist, to build a reputation by guiding an American woman through the bamboo thickets in Sichuan to capture the animal. Gutsy Ruth Harkness got a baby panda, fodder for a book, the drive to be a lifelong adventurer, and a broken heart after a month with Quentin. Personal interviews and solid research about the individuals before, during, and many years after the "chase" contribute to this captivating biography. YAs will see how nationality, politics, economics, and even sibling rivalry can make or break a person, and how time can tame one's outlook. Teens who tune in to "Biography," Animal Planet, or the History Channel will eagerly turn the pages and stare hard at the black-and-white photos, typical of the era, to find evidence of the melodrama described. A trip to the zoo will take on new meaning.
Karen Sokol, Fairfax County Public Schools, VA
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 230 pages
• Publisher: Four Walls Eight Windows; First Edition edition (April 19, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1568582234
• ISBN-13: 978-1568582238
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.9 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,988,658 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Eclectic Escape, and in Non-Fiction, April 23, 2002

By 

Linda Rawles (Mesa, AZ USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Chasing the Panda: How an Unlikely Pair of Adventurers Won the Race to Capture the Mythical "White Bear" (Hardcover)

Kiefer provides an eclectic escape that covers nature, people, politics and history...and all within the confines of a true tale! I will never gawk at those cute bears the same way again, knowing the story of their "discovery" and what that story tells us of the specific times--and the general nature of people. The read is "light," yet one learns a bit along the way. This is my version of a nearly perfect summer read. A romantic "novel" for thinking persons.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Panda-monium!!!, February 22, 2006

By 

Jennifer W. Gullickson (Northern Virginia, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Chasing the Panda: How an Unlikely Pair of Adventurers Won the Race to Capture the Mythical "White Bear" (Hardcover)

If you are one of the many who has been smitten by our Baby Panda, Tia Shan, at the National Zoo in DC, and have read The Lady and the Panda, by V. Croke, or Ruth Harkness, here is a book that is a must read. Mrs. Harkness would have never been able to get the first panda to the US without help from the Young brothers, Quentin and Jack. Mr. Kiefer spent years speaking w/them, and they provide information and perspective that helps give more life & detail to very important characters that didn't get the recgonition they surely deserved. Great photo's wish there were more.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting read, June 18, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Chasing the Panda: How an Unlikely Pair of Adventurers Won the Race to Capture the Mythical "White Bear" (Hardcover)

Although not exactly what I was expecting, this book was in interesting read about the Chinese naturalists and their involvement in how the West first came to know the giant panda. This book detailed many historical facts about how Western naturalists, with the aid of a couple of Chinese, moved through China and collected many specimens for display in the US. I recommend it to anyone who has a deep interest in the giant panda and the history behind our current love affair with these black and white bears.