The bears, a part of China’s ‘panda diplomacy’, will keep in DC’s Nationwide Zoo beneath a 10-year settlement.
China has despatched two large panda bears to america to be housed in Washington, DC’s Smithsonian Nationwide Zoo, in a uncommon diplomatic overture between the 2 international locations.
The three-year-old pandas – a male named Bao Li and a feminine named Qing Bao – arrived at Virginia’s Dulles Worldwide Airport, which serves the US capital, on Tuesday.
They’re amongst a small handful of the black-and-white bears nonetheless within the US, which despatched many of the extremely sought animals again to their native China lately beneath pre-arranged contracts. That features the return final November of the one three pandas residing in Washington’s Nationwide Zoo.
Many seen the absence of a fast substitute for the three pandas as reflective of growing US-China friction, however Chinese language President Xi Jinping quickly promised he would ship new pandas as “envoys of friendship”.
In August, the San Diego Zoo welcomed two new large pandas, the primary to reach within the US in 21 years.
‘Iconic a part of DC’
Anticipation over the arrival of the 2 new pandas in Washington, DC, has been excessive, with the zoo’s web site that includes a banner that reads: “The pandas are coming”.
“The enormous pandas are an iconic a part of the Washington, DC story, each for locals and incoming travellers alike,” mentioned Elliott L Ferguson, II, president and CEO of Vacation spot DC. “The curiosity and pleasure related to their return immediately advantages your complete metropolis, bringing additional curiosity and guests to our motels, eating places and different sights.”
The Nationwide Zoo has been renovating its panda habitat forward of the brand new bears’ arrival, organising new shallow swimming pools and bamboo stands.
The pandas won’t be obtainable to the general public for greater than a month as they quarantine and acclimate to their new habitat.
‘Panda diplomacy’
China has been utilizing so-called “panda diplomacy” since 1972, when the primary animals have been despatched to Washington as a present, following US President Richard Nixon’s historic go to to China.
Later, a rolling collection of 10-year cooperation agreements was struck, which Chinese language Embassy spokesperson Liu Pengyu credited with advancing analysis in panda preservation.
“The present spherical of cooperation will deal with prevention and remedy of main ailments, and safety of habitats and wild large panda populations,” Liu informed the Related Press through e-mail. “We hope the arrival of the pandas will inject contemporary impetus into exchanges between China and the US, and assist to stabilise the broader bilateral relationship as effectively.”
As of 2014, there have been round 1,860 large pandas within the wild, a 17 p.c improve from the last decade earlier than, in response to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). In 2021, Chinese language conservationists reclassified the animal from an endangered species to 1 that’s susceptible.
