

giraffe fever (1826) From: Muhammad Ali of Egypt To: Charles X of France A Sudanese giraffe nicknamed “La Belle Africaine” was sent by the Ottoman Empire to discourage French support for Greek independence. The gift failed to achieve this goal, but the animal became a celebrity in her own right: within six months 600,000 people had visited her in the Jardin des Plantes in Paris, where they could also buy giraffe-shaped souvenir soaps and cookies.



you call that a gift? ( c. 1350 bc) From: Ashur-uballit of Assyria To: Akhenaten of Egypt Hoping to assert Assyria’s equal standing with Egypt, Ashur-uballit sent Akhenaten a chariot, two horses, and a lapis lazuli bead. Egypt sent gold in return, but Ashur-uballit complained that it was not enough to cover the cost of sending his messengers.



panda diplomacy (2005) From: China To: Taiwan In an attempt to smooth over past threats of military force, China offered two pandas; Taiwanese president Chen Shuibian called them a “Trojan horse” and a “ploy” in 2005. Three years later, once relations had thawed, Taiwan spent $10 million preparing a habitat at the Taipei Zoo for Tuan Tuan and Yuan Yuan. The pair produced a cub in 2013.