San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance leaders joined esteemed dignitaries and conservation leaders in China for a farewell ceremony honoring Yun Chuan and Xin Bao, the two giant pandas coming to San Diego Zoo. pic.twitter.com/u16ujsIjU0
— San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance (@sandiegozoo) June 26, 2024
Two giant pandas are headed to the United States from China — an operation involving a motorcade, a chartered flight, a dedicated team and a customized menu.
Yun Chuan and Xin Bao are the first pair of pandas
to enter the United States in more than two decades, and will live at the San
Diego Zoo in California.
Before their big move, the pair attended a farewell
ceremony in their honor in China’s Sichuan Province on Wednesday, which U.S.
and Chinese officials attended along with San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance
President and CEO Paul Baribaul and Todd Gloria, San Diego mayor.
Three-year-old female panda Xin Bao is “gentle and
well-behaved,” while male panda Yun Chuan, four, is “smart and lively,” the
China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda said in a statement,
adding that the duo will enjoy “carefully prepared fresh bamboo , fruit,
vegetables, and specially made bread” during their flight.
The duo will also be accompanied by several
experienced nutritionists and vets, and once at the zoo, the Chinese experts
will stay for around three months to help the pair through the quarantine and
adjustment.
The pandas’ relocation is part of ongoing efforts between the two nations to protect the mammals. Pandas are no longer considered endangered but their status is listed as “vulnerable,” according to The World Wildlife Fund (WWF).
The pandas will be given “several weeks” to adjust to their new surroundings. Then,
they will go on display to members of the public.
WWF estimates that just 1,860 giant pandas remain in the
wild, facing threats that include climate change, loss of food supplies and
habitat fragmentation.
“Although the conservation status of the giant
panda is improving, there is still much work needed to ensure healthy and flourishing populations,” the statement
said.
The loan of the two pandas will open a new round of
panda conservation cooperation between the United States and China. The China Wildlife Conservation
Association hopes conservation efforts between the two countries will also lead to
improvements in managing panda diseases, and help promote “friendship between
Chinese and overseas countrieses.”
It is not just San Diego that is eagerly waiting for a
panda delivery.
Later this year, two new giant pandas will arrive
in Washington, the Smithsonian’s National Zoo announced last month.
China’s pandas are so popular in Washington
that one Chinese ambassador previously
joked: “There are
actually two Chinese ambassadors in Washington: me and the panda cub at the
National Zoo.”
From The Washington Post (edited)
