{"id":11347,"date":"2023-11-08T14:11:09","date_gmt":"2023-11-08T14:11:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/2023\/11\/08\/the-national-zoos-panda-program-is-ending-after-more-than-50-years-as-china-looks-elsewhere\/"},"modified":"2023-11-08T14:11:09","modified_gmt":"2023-11-08T14:11:09","slug":"the-national-zoos-panda-program-is-ending-after-more-than-50-years-as-china-looks-elsewhere","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/2023\/11\/08\/the-national-zoos-panda-program-is-ending-after-more-than-50-years-as-china-looks-elsewhere\/","title":{"rendered":"The National Zoo\u2019s panda program is ending after more than 50 years as China looks elsewhere"},"content":{"rendered":"

For the steady stream of\u00a0visitors, it\u2019s their last chance to see Tian Tian, Mei Xiang and\u00a0their youngest cub,\u00a0Xiao Qi Ji,\u00a0<\/strong>before the black-and-white bears head back to China on Wednesday. <\/p>\n

Their departure\u00a0<\/strong>marks\u00a0the end of more than 50 years of Chinese pandas being housed at the zoo, which was the first US zoo to\u00a0showcase\u00a0the bears as part of what\u2019s been called \u201cpanda diplomacy.\u201d <\/p>\n

Zoo staff call it a \u201chiatus\u201d in their five-decade wildly popular panda program; Chinese officials have yet to say whether it will continue. <\/p>\n

And with relations between the two superpowers in a constant state of flux, these national treasures may be finding themselves part of the extension of the diplomatic chaos that has taken over the relationship between the two countries. <\/p>\n

The\u00a0<\/strong>pandas\u2019 departure from\u00a0the National Zoo leaves Zoo Atlanta as the only other US zoo to feature pandas from China, and not for much longer.\u00a0The contracts\u00a0for Atlanta\u2019s four bears expire next year, with no word on an extension. <\/p>\n

It started during the Nixon presidency<\/h2>\n

China acknowledges the cuddly creatures are used for its \u201cmajor political and diplomatic needs,\u201d especially in places where it hopes to gain more influence or closer relations. China says its focus is on conservation and research and says the US program has been productive. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe two sides have formed good cooperative relations, achieved fruitful results and played a positive role in protecting endangered species,\u201d said spokesperson Mao Ning of China\u2019s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe purpose is to better protect endangered species and promote global biodiversity conservation.\u201d <\/p>\n

Beijing\u2019s\u00a0panda diplomacy\u00a0with Washington kicked off in 1972, following President Richard Nixon\u2019s historic visit to China. <\/p>\n

Premier Zhou Enlai gifted two giant pandas to the United States in a sign of warming bilateral ties after decades of diplomatic deep freeze. <\/p>\n

First lady Pat Nixon welcomed the pandas to the nation\u2019s capital, saying, \u201cThey will be enjoyed by the millions of people who come from across the country\u00a0to visit the nation\u2019s capital each year.\u201d <\/p>\n

Seeing the pandas\u2019 popularity rise among Americans, China sent more of the\u00a0<\/strong>cuddly and charismatic creatures\u00a0<\/strong>to other zoos across the United States, eventually loaning them instead of giving them as a gift. <\/p>\n

Changing diplomacy<\/h2>\n

Agreements between China and the US zoos stipulate Beijing owns the pandas and any of their offspring, and they require payment \u201cfor the conservation of giant pandas in China.\u201d The National Zoo has paid $500,000 a year; Zoo Atlanta says it has\u00a0contributed more than $16 million\u00a0since the start of its program in 1999. <\/p>\n

Since giant pandas arrived at the National Zoo in 1972, animal care staff and scientists have studied their biology, behavior, breeding, reproduction and disease,\u00a0according to the zoo. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe Zoo\u2019s giant panda team works closely with colleagues in China to advance conservation efforts for giant pandas in human care and in the wild,\u201d the zoo says on its\u00a0website. <\/p>\n

At the height of the program, there were 15 pandas\u00a0at one time\u00a0in the United States, but in the past decade, the numbers have dropped \u2013 coinciding with worsening US-China relations. And soon, there could\u00a0be no more pandas at American zoos. <\/p>\n

Earlier this year, videos surfaced on Chinese social media claiming pandas returning from the Memphis Zoo were being abused. Partially fueled by Chinese state media, the claims went viral. <\/p>\n

Chinese doctors defended the zoo\u2019s treatment of the pandas,\u00a0confirming that the giant panda, named YaYa, was suffering from a skin disease, but was in good health. <\/p>\n

But some in China\u00a0still see it as a symbol of America\u2019s bullying and oppression of China, with others highlighting countries such as Russia, which also hosts the animals,\u00a0as a place where pandas are treated well. <\/p>\n

Assuming China chooses not to send over more giant pandas, and Atlanta sends theirs back next year, by the end of 2024 the only panda in zoos throughout all of the Americas would be Xin Xin in Mexico City. <\/p>\n

Xin Xin \u2013 who at 33 is old for a panda \u2013 is owned by Mexico and is a main attraction at the zoo, which is now bracing for a possible surge in visitors. <\/p>\n

\u201cFor the time being, come to Mexico!\u201d said Fernando Gual Sill, director general of the Chapultepec Zoo in Mexico City. \u201cIn Mexico City we have the fortune to have (a panda) and to see it and to enjoy it!\u201d <\/p>\n

Pandas around the world<\/h2>\n

Pandas that are part of China\u2019s loan program are meant to serve as an\u00a0envoy of friendship\u00a0between China and the host country, so the fading program in the United States may indicate a diplomatic shift. <\/p>\n

Russia, China\u2019s northern neighbor, received a pair of pandas in 2019, with Chinese President Xi Jinping standing alongside Russian President Vladimir Putin as they welcomed the bears to the zoo in Moscow. <\/p>\n

Qatar received its first panda last year. <\/p>\n

Including the United States, 23 countries have pandas on loan from China, but that number is dwindling. Scotland will lose its two pandas in December when the\u00a0Edinburgh Zoo\u00a0must return them to China; Australia\u2019s\u00a0Adelaide Zoo\u00a0has its two pandas only for one more year. <\/p>\n

The pandas leaving America will head to the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding, where in recent years conservation efforts have proven successful. Pandas are no longer on the endangered species list, and their\u00a0population has jumped nearly 17% over the past decade,\u00a0according to Zoo Atlanta. <\/p>\n

Still, the total number of giant pandas in China \u2013 1,864 as of the latest census, in 2014 \u2013 is considered low for breeding and maintaining a viable population. Only around 61% of China\u2019s pandas are protected by reserves, and their habitat is threatened by logging in established forests, which eliminates the large tree hollows pandas like to use for dens, Zoo Atlanta says. <\/p>\n

Will the pandas ever return stateside?<\/h2>\n

Staff at the National Zoo say they\u2019re hopeful China might one day send over more giant pandas. They\u2019re even planning renovations for the soon-to-be vacant panda exhibit. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re hopeful for the future, so we have submitted an application that\u2019s being reviewed,\u201d said Bob Lee, director of animal care at the National Zoo. <\/p>\n

Zoo Atlanta\u2019s panda habitat\u00a0cost $7 million to build\u00a0ahead of the bears\u2019 arrival in 1999,\u00a0and assuming the bears leave at the end of their contracted stay,\u00a0it will now stand empty.\u00a0Plans for\u00a0the exhibit, with a welcome sign announcing the \u201cGiant Pandas of Chengdu\u201d and a panda-themed gift shop, aren\u2019t clear.<\/strong> <\/p>\n

Remembering how the pandas first came to Washington, zoo visitor Jane Mahalik said she hoped the current first lady might work for their return. <\/p>\n\n

This post appeared first on cnn.com<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For the steady stream of\u00a0visitors, it\u2019s their last chance to see Tian Tian, Mei Xiang and\u00a0their youngest cub,\u00a0Xiao Qi Ji,\u00a0before the black-and-white bears head back to China on Wednesday. Their departure\u00a0marks\u00a0the end of more than 50 years of Chinese pandas being housed at the zoo, which was the first US zoo to\u00a0showcase\u00a0the bears as part <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":11348,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-11347","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11347","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11347"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11347\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11348"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11347"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11347"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11347"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}