Time is approaching that the US sees the last of its captive pandas return home to China, the National Zoo is heading home on November 15, earlier than originally planned. The last pandas that will remain in the US are in Atlanta but the loan agreement will expire in just one year, leaving the US pandaless for the first time since 1972. The loss of the beloved fluffy creatures leaves many panda fans heartbroken.
The U.S. is not the only country facing panda removal that China once gifted under what was named “panda diplomacy.” Britain’s only pair left is set to return home by the end of the year from Edinburgh Zoo by the end of the year, whereas Australia and China are negotiating an extension for the two pandas at the Adelaide Zoo. Depending on how it goes, all three countries could be pandaless by 2024.
Animal keepers and curators currently work at the National Zoo to prepare the pandas for the 20-hour journey by crate-training them to prevent any overwhelming anxiety that may come. So far trainers say the pandas love their crates, stating sometimes they have to bribe them with food to get them back out of them. The pandas are expected to spend most of the trip sleeping and eating, the zoo planning to bring around 200 pounds of bamboo for the flight in addition to other treats like apples, carrots, and sweet potatoes.
Two of the pandas, Mei Xiang and Tian Tian arrived at the National Zoo in 2000 under a ten-year agreement that had been renewed three times since 2010, with the baby panda Xiao Qi Ji, whose name means little miracle, was born in 2020 due to artificial insemination. Efforts to renew the contract once more, which technically ends Dec. 7, have been unsuccessful.
The first of the giant panda species, the only left within most countries, originally came to the U.S. in 1972 under President Nixon after he made a historic visit to China to establish diplomatic relations that later came in 1979. Many take the pandas to be a symbol of friendship between China and the rest of the world to which they gave pandas.
Though signing this contract many were aware the return was to come eventually, everyone is still sad to see the beloved bears leave possibly long term. Right now about 600 remain in captivity around the world, but it is expected that the number will drop throughout the next year as they head home. The only country to receive new pandas has been Russia, in 2019 to be exact, possibly once again representing a positive diplomatic relationship as they had in the past for others.
