by Valerie Wong (’24)
On December 7, 2023, two pandas from the National Zoo in Washington, D.C, are scheduled to return to China. First arriving in the US in 2000, Mei Xiang and Tian Tian were originally loaned to the US in a ten-year research program. Now, after multiple program renewals, the pandas are finally making their way home.
Historically, panda loans have been a symbol of goodwill and positive foreign relations between countries. The practice started in China during the 1940s, and in 1972, China sent two pandas, Ling-Ling and Hsing Hsing, to the US National Zoo. However, in the 1980s, concern for the conservation status of giant pandas led China to cease this practice. Pandas began to be loaned to zoos around the world solely for research purposes and conservation efforts.
However, it isn’t easy to get pandas into any local zoo—China imposes strict regulations on the conditions that must be met in order to initiate the loan. First, zoos must pay millions of dollars just for the opportunity to host these pandas. Second, the facilities must provide a multitude of high-quality accommodations, such as high-security enclosures, fresh bamboo, and individual teams to take care of the pandas. If all these conditions are met, zoos can house the animals for ten-year stays in their countries.
From South Korea to Qatar, panda loan programs exist in over twenty countries worldwide. In fact, the practice is so well-established that it has its own name: panda diplomacy. In the US, four zoos have historically participated in the program: Memphis Zoo, San Diego Zoo, Atlanta Zoo, and the Smithsonian National Zoo. Unfortunately, every program is scheduled to end by mid-2024, partly because of the Chinese government’s unwillingness to continue positive relations with the US. As panda programs symbolize peace, their subsequent cancellations show the deterioration of diplomacy between the two countries. The pandas in the San Diego Zoo returned to China in 2019. At the Memphis Zoo, one of the pandas tragically died, and the other was returned in April of this year. The pandas in the Smithsonian National Zoo are scheduled to return in December 2023, while the pandas in Atlanta are supposed to return to China in early 2024.
Overall, panda loan policies have been an overwhelming success. Several successful research and breeding programs have been implemented, boosting the panda population by hundreds. Their population is now estimated to be over 1800, and their conservation status has been changed from endangered to vulnerable as of 2021. However, while pandas have flourished, our planet continues to decline, with over a million species being put at risk due to climate change. Pandas are a powerful symbol of the change that can arise from worldwide collaboration, but there is still much work to be done in order to mitigate the problems that caused their populations to decline in the first place.
