Pandas leaving National Zoo for China

WASHINGTON — All three pandas at the Smithsonian National Zoo will be leaving for China on Dec. 7.

They are leaving as part of an agreement with the China Wildlife Conservation Association. It’s not known if any pandas will be returning, CBS News reported.

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Zoo spokesperson Annalisa Meyer told NPR they are working with their Chinese partners to develop a new giant panda program, however.

Pandas have been an integral part of the zoo since 1972 when China gifted a pair to the zoo after President Richard Nixon’s historic visit. The U.S. sent two Arctic Musk Oxen in exchange as part of a political tool that became known as “panda diplomacy,” which the New York Times reported has come into question.

A female, Ling-Ling, and a male named Hsing-Hsing were welcomed to the National Zoo by then-first lady Pat Nixon. The pair had five cubs together, though none lived more than a few days, NPR said.

A year after Hsing-Hsing died in 1999, China officials and the zoo reached a new agreement for pandas to return to the zoo, this time on loan.

Mei Xiang (female) and Tian Tian (male), were sent in 2020 after another agreement with zoo officials and the China Wildlife Conservation Association for a 10-year research and breeding program.

The agreement was extended several times, CBS News said. All the bears were a smash hit, charming tourists and local panda lovers, attracting big crowds for more than 50 years, according to NPR.

On Aug. 21, 2020, the pair gave birth to a male cub called Xiao Qi Ji, and the zoo signed another three-year extension to keep all the bears, according to NPR. That extension has run out.

Pandas have been elevated from an “endangered species” to “vulnerable,” USA Today reported. The number of pandas rose 17% from 2007 to 2017, and there are now 1,864 pandas remaining in the wild, the newspaper said, citing the World Wildlife Fund.