Excitement is in the air at the San Diego Zoo: Americans will soon meet the first pandas The zoo has been in existence since 2019. The arrival of the pandas is not only a treat for visitors, but also a symbol of the decades-long Sino-US relationship.
“This is a very exciting time for the Zoo. No other species embodies this conservation mission more than giant pandas,” said Megan Owen, the zoo’s chief conservation scientist.
Among the new residents is Yun Chuan, a 5-year-old male panda who enjoys relaxing with a bushel of bamboo.
“He’s a foodie,” Owen said. “All pandas love their food, but he definitely loves his bamboo.”
Yun Chuan’s roots run deep at the San Diego Zoo. His mother was born there in 2007, and his grandmother, a local legend, was one of the zoo’s first two pandas and lived there for more than 20 years.
Along with Yun Chuan, Xin Bao, a 4-year-old female known for her intelligence and adventurous spirit, is the first to welcome pandas to a U.S. zoo in 21 years.
The hope is that Yun Chuan and Xin Bao will educate the next generation, ushering in a new era of peaceful panda relations.
The first pandas to take up residence in the United States arrived at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C., in 1972. They were a gift to First Lady Pat Nixon after a historic visit to China with President Richard Nixon that helped establish diplomatic relations between the two countries.
Since then, 50 years of “panda diplomacy” have helped grow the panda population and their popularity, with millions of adoring fans watching every fall, every snow day and every birth.
China owns the pandas and typically leases them for 10-year terms at $1 million per year per pair. But with tensions rising between Beijing and the West, China appears set to retire the pandas when their leases expire.
However, a recent signal from Chinese President Xi Jinping indicates a thawing of frosty relations with the panda.
In NovemberChinese President Xi Jinping raised hopes that his country would resume sending pandas to the United States after he and President Joe Biden met in Northern California for their first face-to-face meeting in a year and pledged to try to reduce tensions.
“We are ready to continue our cooperation with the United States on panda conservation,” Xi Jinping said in late 2023.
This means that more pandas are expected to return to American zoos. Given the presence of the San Diego Zoo long story with these bearsIt’s a natural first stop for the panda tour.
