CNN
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On Wednesday, three giant pandas left their pasture at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo in Washington, D.C., and took a flight to China, ending more than 50 years of captivity for Chinese pandas at the zoo.
Black and white bears Tian Tian, Mei Xiang, and their youngest cub, Xiao Qi Zhi, were transported from the zoo in wooden crates and loaded onto a FedEx plane at Dulles International Airport, which took off around 1 p.m.
The Smithsonian’s National Zoo was the first U.S. zoo to exhibit pandas as part of so-called “panda diplomacy.”
Zoo staff are calling this a “hiatus” for the hugely popular panda program that has spanned 50 years. Chinese authorities have not yet announced whether this will continue.
And with relations between the two countries in constant flux, these national treasures may find themselves an extension of the diplomatic turmoil that has taken over the relationship.
The panda’s departure from the National Zoo will make Zoo Atlanta the only U.S. zoo to exhibit pandas from China, but that won’t be for long. The contracts of Atlanta’s four Bears expire next year, but there has been no mention of extensions.
China admits that the cuddly animals are used for “key political and diplomatic needs,” especially in places where it wants to expand its influence or develop closer ties. China is focused on conservation and research, and claims the U.S. program has been productive.
“The two sides have built good cooperation, achieved fruitful results, and played an active role in protecting endangered species,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said.
“The aim is to strengthen the protection of endangered species and promote the conservation of global biodiversity.”
Panda diplomacy between Beijing and Washington began in 1972 following President Richard Nixon’s historic visit to China.
Chairman Mao Zedong’s government has gifted two giant pandas to the United States in a sign of warming bilateral relations after decades of deep diplomatic freeze.
First Lady Pat Nixon welcomed the pandas’ visit to the nation’s capital, saying, “Pandas will be enjoyed by the millions of people who visit our nation’s capital every year.”
Seeing the growing popularity of pandas among Americans, China sent even more cute and charismatic pandas to other zoos across the United States, eventually lending them rather than giving them as gifts.
The agreement between Chinese and U.S. zoos requires the Chinese government to own the pandas and their offspring and pay “the cost of protecting giant pandas in China.” The National Zoo pays $500,000 a year. Zoo Atlanta says it has donated more than $16 million since the program began in 1999.
Since giant pandas arrived at the National Zoo in 1972, animal care staff and scientists have studied the animals’ ecology, behavior, reproduction, reproduction and disease, the zoo said.
“The zoo’s giant panda team works closely with colleagues in China to advance conservation efforts for giant pandas in human care and in the wild,” the zoo said on its website.
At the height of the program, there were at one time 15 pandas in the United States, but that number has declined over the past decade, coinciding with a deterioration in U.S.-China relations. And there may soon be no pandas left in American zoos.
Earlier this year, a video surfaced on Chinese social media alleging pandas being mistreated after returning from the Memphis Zoo. The claim spread quickly, fueled by Chinese state media.
Chinese doctors defended the zoo’s treatment of the giant panda, confirming that the giant panda, named Yaya, suffers from a skin disease but is in good health.
But some in China still see pandas as a symbol of the United States’ bullying and oppression of China, while others emphasize that countries such as Russia that accept pandas are places where they are valued.
Assuming China chooses not to send any more giant pandas and Atlanta sends one back next year, by the end of 2024 Mexico City’s Xin Xing will be the only panda in zoos across the Americas.
Xin Xin, 33 years old, old for a panda, is owned by Mexico and is the centerpiece of the zoo, which is preparing for a surge in visitor numbers.
“Just come to Mexico!” said Fernando Gual Sil, director of Mexico City’s Chapultepec Zoo. “In Mexico City, we are lucky enough to have (pandas) and enjoy seeing them!”
pandas around the world
Pandas, part of a Chinese loan program, are intended to serve as ambassadors of goodwill between China and host countries, so the program’s disappearance in the United States could signal a diplomatic shift.
China’s northern neighbor Russia received a pair of pandas in 2019, and Chinese President Xi Jinping welcomed them to the Moscow Zoo alongside Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Qatar took in its first pandas last year.
Twenty-three countries, including the United States, loan pandas from China, but the number is decreasing. Scotland will lose its pandas in December when Edinburgh Zoo has to return two of its animals to China. Australia’s Adelaide Zoo will have two pandas for just one more year.
After leaving the United States, the pandas will head to the Chengdu Giant Panda Breeding Research Base, where conservation efforts have proven successful in recent years. Pandas are no longer on the endangered species list, and their population has increased nearly 17 percent in the past decade, according to Zoo Atlanta.
Still, the total number of giant pandas in China (1,864 as of the most recent census in 2014) is considered too small to breed and maintain a viable population. Only about 61% of China’s pandas are protected in sanctuaries, according to Zoo Atlanta, whose habitat is threatened by clearing of existing forests that have removed the large tree cavities that pandas use for dens.
Will pandas ever return to mainland America?
National Zoo staff said they were hopeful that China might someday send more giant pandas to the zoo. They also plan to renovate the soon-to-be empty panda exhibit.
Bob Lee, head of animal care at the National Zoo, said: “We are looking forward to the future, so we have submitted an application and it is currently under review.”
Zoo Atlanta’s panda habitat cost $7 million to build in advance of the bears’ arrival in 1999, and will now sit vacant, assuming the bears leave after the contract ends. Plans for the exhibit, which will include a welcoming sign announcing “Chengdu’s Giant Pandas” and a panda-themed gift shop, have not been disclosed.
Zoo visitor Jane Mahalik said she remembered when the pandas first came to Washington and hoped the current first lady would work to bring them back.
“Pat Nixon brought pandas here, so Jill Biden should go and bring these pandas back for us,” Mahalik told CNN.
CNN’s Yong Xiong reported from Washington, D.C. and New York. Melissa Gray reported from Atlanta. David Culver reported from Los Angeles and Mexico City. Karol Suarez contributed from Mexico City.
