China sends two big pandas to Washington, DC zoo | Information

World Courant

Bao Li and Qing Bao will arrive this yr below a 10-year breeding and analysis settlement, Zoo says.

China will ship big pandas to the Nationwide Zoo in Washington DC, first girl Jill Biden and United States officers say in a shock announcement that heralds a brand new period of panda diplomacy between the superpowers.

Bao Li and Qing Bao will arrive within the U.S. earlier than the top of the yr below a decade-long breeding and analysis settlement, the zoo stated Wednesday in an announcement celebrating the return of animals “beloved throughout the nation and on the earth”.

“We’re thrilled that youngsters close to and much can as soon as once more benefit from the lovable and joyful adventures of the enormous pandas at our @NationalZoo,” the primary girl wrote on X.

With tensions hovering between Washington and Beijing, there are solely a handful of black and white bears left within the US, and three left the Nationwide Zoo six months in the past.

However Chinese language President Xi Jinping stated after assembly US President Joe Biden at a summit in California in November that China may ship new pandas as “envoys of friendship between the Chinese language and American folks.”

Two-year-old male big panda Bao Li in his habitat at Shenshuping Base in Wolong, China (Smithsonian’s Nationwide Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute by way of AP Photograph)

The White Home stated it wish to have extra bamboo-chewing bears.

“We’re excited to announce that the following chapter of our breeding and conservation partnership begins by welcoming two new bears, together with a descendant of our beloved panda household, to Washington, DC,” stated Brandie Smith of the Smithsonian’s Nationwide Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute. .

“This historic second is proof optimistic that our collaboration with Chinese language colleagues has had an irrefutable affect.”

China has been utilizing ‘panda diplomacy’ since 1972, when the primary animals have been despatched to the US as presents following then-President Richard Nixon’s go to to the communist nation.

Tense relations between the rival superpowers lately have led Beijing to recall some pandas.

We’re glad that youngsters close to and much can as soon as once more benefit from the cute and joyful adventures of the enormous pandas with us @NationaleZoo.

– Jill Biden (@FLOTUS) Might 29, 2024

All three big pandas on the Nationwide Zoo – Mei Xiang and Tian Tian, ​​who arrived in 2000, and their three-year-old cub, Xiao Qi Ji (“Little Marvel” in English) – flew again on a cargo aircraft to China in November.

The final remaining US-based pandas, at a zoo within the southern metropolis of Atlanta, will return to China this yr, though the Asian big introduced plans in February to ship a pair to the San Diego Zoo.

The arrivals from Washington, D.C., each two years previous, have been born inside a month of one another at a conservation middle in southwestern Sichuan province. Each nonetheless stay in separate services within the province.

Bao Li, a person whose title means “sweetheart” and “energetic,” is one thing of a scion from a legendary Washington, DC household.

His mom, Bao Bao, was born on the US capital’s zoo in 2013, whereas his grandparents lived there from 2000 to 2023, serving as ambassadors for his or her species.

The title of the feminine Qing Bao means “inexperienced” and “darling”.

The pandas are quarantined of their new habitat for a minimum of 30 days, below the supervision of a workforce of caretakers, nutritionists and veterinarians.

They are going to have just a few extra weeks to settle into their new house earlier than making a public debut at a date but to be decided, the zoo stated.

“After welcoming almost 26 million guests final yr, a 16 % enhance over the earlier yr, we will not wait to welcome two extra,” Mayor Muriel Bowser wrote on X.

“Bao Li and Qing Bao – trying ahead to seeing you quickly!”

China sends two big pandas to Washington, DC zoo | Information

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