Beloved panda was wartime ambassador warming hearts of people

She was black, white and furry, far from home, and loved having her tummy tickled, especially by princesses.

Now Ming, the giant panda who brought so much joy to Londoners, especially children, during the dark days of the German blitzkrieg during the World War II, will be remembered with a statue erected in her honor at London Zoo, where she spent much of her time from 1938 to 1944.

Ming was born in Sichuan province in 1937. At the time, less emphasis was placed on panda preservation, and she was captured by hunters and eventually given to Floyd Tangier-Smith, an American banker and adventurer who was in the region.