For decades, giant pandas have been star attractions at many zoos across the United States and around the world. But that appears to be changing, as the zoos' respective loan agreements with China, the bears’ home country, are all set to expire by the end of 2024 – with no prospect of renewal in sight.
There are currently only seven pandas in the United States – three at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C., and four at Zoo Atlanta. Visitors to the National Zoo have just two months left to see Tian Tian, Mei Xiang, and their 3-year-old cub Xiao Qi Ji, as all three bears are scheduled to be returned to China by early December. Zoo Atlanta's pandas (twins Ya Lun and Xi Lun and their parents, Lun Lun and Yang Yang) are scheduled to leave by the end of next year. Pandas have been absent from the Memphis Zoo since April 2023 and the San Diego Zoo since 2019.
Likewise, the two pandas in the United Kingdom, at the Edinburgh Zoo in Scotland, are scheduled to leave for China this December, while Australia’s pandas are scheduled to depart from the Adelaide Zoo in 2024. The Netherlands and Japan also said farewell to their bears recently.
China has not explicitly stated that politics is the reason the loan agreements have not been renewed, but to many observers, the departure of the bears from so many Western nations appears to signal a pause in the practice of “panda diplomacy,” in which China loaned the iconic bears to other countries as a symbol of friendship.
Notably, it will be the first time in over 50 years that the United States is without giant pandas. The first pair was gifted to First Lady Pat Nixon after she made a historic visit to China with President Richard Nixon in 1972. Since then, panda diplomacy has shifted from gifting pandas to a system of long-term leases, with all panda cubs born abroad eventually being sent back to China.
The end of panda diplomacy?
- Other factors besides politics may have been involved in China’s decision not to renew the contracts with U.S. zoos. Giant pandas were reclassified as “Vulnerable” (rather than “Endangered”) by the International Union for Conservation of Nature in 2016, so perhaps there is less need to turn to the international community to promote their conservation.
- Still, it’s hard to ignore the apparent political significance of the 2019 agreement that loaned Russia two giant pandas for 15 years. Moscow will soon be home to the only foreign zoo where visitors can see giant pandas outside of China.
- In 2020, Canada returned its pandas to China several years earlier than planned for a practical, rather than political, reason – it was becoming too difficult to source the enormous quantities of bamboo that the bears need to survive.
