Tourist family full of praise for zoo gardener's honesty

By Steffie Lu  |   2008-6-11  |     NEWSPAPER EDITION

AN INDIAN tourist to the city yesterday asked Shanghai Daily to find a gardener working at Shanghai Zoo who was of great help to her and her family when they visited the zoo in May.

She has written him a thank-you letter to express her gratitude.

The tourist, Sutapa Mukherjee, misplaced her bag, containing credit cards, driving license, a couple of hundred dollars and baby formula among other items.

She reckoned that must have happened when they stopped to feed the baby at one of the parks. They then moved on to see the giant panda and didn't realize the bag was missing after about an hour.

Mukherjee and her family retraced their steps but couldn't find the bag. When they got to the zoo's management office, they found that the bag, with its contents intact, had been handed in by a gardener.

He refused the money Mukherjee offered him and hesitated to shake hands with them, pointing towards his soiled hands, but was happy to pose for a photograph.

Shanghai Daily has contacted the zoo, trying to find the kind gardener and pass on the family's letter.