Pandas are visitor magnets in zoos and a diplomatic bargaining chip for China. After rapprochement between Beijing and Washington, new pandas are now to be sent to the USA.
China wants to revive its panda diplomacy with the USA. A cooperation agreement has been signed with the zoo in San Diego, confirmed Chinese Foreign Office spokeswoman Mao Ning in Beijing. According to US media reports, two pandas from China could find a new home in the city in California this summer. The last pandas left San Diego five years ago.
“We’re very excited and hopeful,” said Megan Owen of the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance and vice president of the organization Wildlife Conservation Science. The Chinese side has expressed great enthusiasm about the plan to resume panda cooperation, starting with the San Diego Zoo.
Only four of the animals currently live in the United States, all at the Atlanta Zoo. This contract expires at the end of the year. However, the San Diego Zoo maintained contact with its Chinese colleagues even after the return of its pandas.
The zoo in Washington can also hope
Just last fall, several pandas had to leave the zoo in the US capital Washington, which had housed pandas since the 1970s, because the loan agreement had expired. The return to China came at a time when relations between the two countries were at a low point.
Beijing is currently negotiating panda cooperation again with the capital’s zoo, said Mao. The collaboration helps protect endangered animals and promotes friendship between people, she said.
A meeting between US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping in November had already raised hopes of a return of the bears. Both promised at the time to try to reduce tensions. Xi said he learned that the San Diego Zoo and the people of California were excited to welcome pandas again.
Fewer than 2,000 pandas in the wild
Pandas only live in the wild in parts of China. The Chinese forestry authority recently estimated their number at 1,900 animals. The status was downgraded from “endangered” to “endangered” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
Breeding giant pandas is difficult because the females’ reproductive window is extremely narrow, only 48 to 72 hours per year. Owen says a return of the bears would not only be good for San Diego, but also for the species’ recovery.
China has also provided pandas to Germany. The Berlin Zoo is currently hoping for offspring from panda lady Meng Meng. Two pandas were born in the capital in 2019.