WASHINGTON (AP) — Months after the nation’s capital bid an emotional farewell to its giant pandas, the National Zoo is expecting a new wave of panda mania with the announcement of the arrival of two more furry icons in black and white. Washington.
The zoo announced Wednesday that a new agreement had been reached with the Chinese government and that a pair of adult pandas would arrive from China by the end of the year. The National Zoo and the Smithsonian Institute for Conservation Biology said the new pairs were Bao Li (pronounced BOW’-lee) and Qing Bao (ching-BOW’).
“We are thrilled to announce that the next chapter of our breeding and conservation partnership begins with the welcome of two new bears, including a descendant of our beloved panda family, to Washington, DC,” said Brandie Smith, zoo director. “This historic moment is proof that our collaboration with our Chinese colleagues has had an irrefutable impact. »
Giant pandas are prized in Washington, across the country and around the world. Number of pandas in US zoos has declined as loan agreements expire diplomatic tensions between the United States and China which remain high. The three pandas of Washington returned to China last November.
News of the new exchange agreement spread quickly around the National Zoo on Wednesday, with several signs announcing “The pandas are coming!” » and new panda-themed product presentations taking pride of place in gift shops.
Sofia Valle, an 8th grader from Bear, Delaware, came with a school group hoping to see pandas and is unaware that the zoo is currently panda-free. Instead, she and her classmates — all wearing headbands shaped like panda ears — posed for photos in front of a giant panda statue and chatted about returning after the new bears arrived.
“It’s my favorite animal,” Valle said. “They’re so soft!” And they are lazy like me.
Panda fever also means business for the zoo area. At Baked By Yael, a bakery across from one of the main entrances, panda-themed cake pops and T-shirts never stopped selling, even after the bears left.
“We’re super excited,” said owner Yael Krigman. “Honestly, we never gave up on the faith. We knew they would come back eventually.
Upon arrival, the pandas will spend several weeks in quarantine with limited human contact while zoo staff work to acclimate them to their new environment.
“It’s huge. I can’t wait. It couldn’t have happened sooner,” said Mariel Lally, one of the zoo’s panda keepers. “Pandas are such an incredible species.”
Chinese President Xi Jinping signaled during a trip in late 2023 that China would send new pandas to the United States. He called them “envoys of friendship between the Chinese and American people.”
The zoo accompanied the announcement of a light video with Smith, Smithsonian Institution Secretary Lonnie G. Bunch III and first lady Jill Biden. The trio in the video are gathered to discuss the protocol of a reception intended to welcome anonymous guests of honor. When Biden asks about attire and the menu, Smith responds dryly that the impending guests are “strict vegetarians” who have “a weakness for black and white.”
AP Washington correspondent Sagar Meghani reports that the nation’s capital will once again welcome iconic guests from China.
Last November, giant pandas Tian Tian and Mei Xiang and their cub, Xiao Qi Ji, I returned to China, sparking a nationwide wave of farewells from millions of American panda fans of all ages. The trio’s departure left only one family of pandas in U.S. zoos, at Zoo Atlanta, and these are expected to return to China later this year.
Zoo Atlanta is preparing for the return of panda parents Lun Lun and Yang Yang, as well as their U.S.-born twins, Ya Lun and Xi Lun, zoo officials announced earlier this month.
America may welcome another new pair of pandas before the bears leave Atlanta. The San Diego Zoo said last month that staff members recently traveled to China to meet pandas Yun Chuan and Xin Bao, who could arrive in California as soon as this summer. A separate agreement It was also announced that it would also send a breeding pair of pandas to San Francisco.
Pandas have been a symbol of friendship between the United States and China since Beijing sent a pair to the national zoo in 1972, before bilateral relations normalized. Beijing later loaned pandas to other U.S. zoos, with the profits going to panda conservation programs.
When relations between the United States and China began to deteriorate in recent years, Chinese citizens began demanding the return of giant pandas. Unproven allegations that U.S. zoos mistreated pandas, known as China’s “national treasure,” have flooded Chinese social media.
The National Zoo said the pandas coming to Washington are:
— Bao Li, a 2-year-old male whose name means “treasure” and “energetic”. He was born on August 4, 2021 at the China Giant Panda Conservation and Research Center in Sichuan, to his father An An and his mother Bao Bao. The zoo said Bao Li’s mother was born at the zoo in 2013 and his grandparents Tian Tian and Mei Xiang lived at the zoo from 2000 to 2023. They are Mei Xiang and Tian Tian, with their little Xiao Qi Ji, who left the zoo. zoo in November.
— Qing Bao, a 2-year-old female whose name means “green” and “treasure”. She was born on September 12, 2021.
A research and breeding agreement with the Chinese runs until April 2034 and, like previous ones, stipulates that all cubs born at the zoo will emigrate to China at the age of 4, according to the announcement. The zoo will pay an annual membership fee of $1 million to the China Wildlife Conservation Association to support research and conservation efforts in China.
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AP writer Ashraf Khalil contributed to this article.
News Source : apnews.com
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