HONG KONG — A pair of giant pandas from China arrived Tuesday morning at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo in Washington, where they will begin a 10-year residency in the nation’s capital just weeks before the presidential election.
Bao Li, a 3-year-old male, and Qing Bao, a 3-year-old female, are the latest pandas to be sent to the U.S. after a series of repatriations from U.S. zoos raised concerns that geopolitical tensions could be exacerbated. Panda Diplomacy,” a long-standing symbol of friendship between the world’s two largest economies.
couple The Chinese Wildlife Conservation Society said in a statement that it left the Dujiangyan panda base of the China Conservation and Research Center in the country’s southwestern Sichuan province for the airport on Monday.
“Essential items such as boiled corn buns, bamboo shoots, carrots, water and medicine will be provided on board the pandas to meet their needs,” the statement said.
“The U.S. side sent three experienced rangers and veterinarians to Sichuan in advance to assist in the care of the pandas and assess their condition, and they will accompany the pandas on the trip,” it said.
“We believe that this new phase of US-China cooperation in giant panda conservation will build on the existing strong partnership and achieve even greater success in areas such as prevention and treatment of giant panda diseases, epidemic prevention, scientific exchanges, and contributions to panda conservation in the wild and the construction of the Giant Panda National Park.” ,” it added.
The National Zoo has been without any pandas since last November, when adult pandas Mi Xiang and Tian Tian and their 3-year-old male cub Xiao Gui Ji returned to China after failed attempts to renew their loan agreement. The bears have long been one of the zoo’s main attractions, and adult pandas have been there since 2000.
During a visit to the U.S. that same month, Chinese President Xi Jinping — who, along with President Joe Biden, has been working to improve U.S.-China relations after decades of lows — hinted that more pandas might be coming.
In June, Yun Xuan and Xin Bao became the first pandas to enter the United States in decades. The pair made their public debut at the San Diego Zoo in August.
San Francisco Mayor London Breed said the city’s zoo is preparing to receive its first pair of pandas from China.
The arrival of two new bears at the National Zoo in May Video with First Lady Jill Biden. Like the San Diego Bears, Bao Li and Qing Bao’s departure from China was shrouded in secrecy, including from “toxic” panda fans who were nationalistically opposed to sending the bears overseas or feared they would be mistreated, for safety reasons.
They left China after four pandas returned from Zoo Atlanta over the weekend: Lun Lun, Yang Yang and their twin cubs, Ya Lun and Ji Lun.
In 1972, Beijing presented its first two pandas to the United States after President Richard Nixon’s historic visit to China, considered a milestone in US-China relations. Bears are native to China and are seen as a national symbol.
China leases at least 60 pandas to more than 20 countries, using the money for conservation efforts. Sometimes the cost can be high, however, as a zoo in Finland said it was returning two of its bears to China ahead of schedule due to a lack of funds.
Although they are no longer considered endangered, only about 1,800 pandas survive in the wild today, according to the World Wildlife Fund.
