It’s the end of an era at the National Zoo as Mei Xiang, Tian Tian, and their cub Xiao Qi Ji, the zoo’s three giant pandas, are scheduled to return to China in early December. The future of the 50-year-old exchange agreement, struck by former President Nixon, is uncertain, and there are no public indications that the agreement will be renewed. National Zoo officials have refrained from commenting on the negotiations, but the zoo’s outlook appears pessimistic. In fact, the recent “Panda Palooza: A Giant Farewell” celebration seems to suggest that the panda era at the zoo is reaching its conclusion.
This potential end of the National Zoo’s panda era is occurring within a larger trend observed by veteran China-watchers. As diplomatic tensions between Beijing and Western governments intensify, China seems to be gradually reclaiming its pandas from various Western zoos as their loan agreements come to an end. Dennis Wilder, a senior fellow at Georgetown University’s Initiative for US-China Dialogue on Global Issues, has labeled this trend as “punitive panda diplomacy.” Two American zoos have already lost their pandas in recent years, and zoos in Scotland and Australia are facing similar departures with no signs of their loan agreements being renewed. Beijing currently lends 65 pandas to 19 countries as part of “cooperative research programs,” with the aim of protecting this vulnerable species.
The Chinese government initially gifted the first pair of pandas, Hsing-Hsing and Ling-Ling, to the US. However, they now lease pandas to foreign countries for a typical term of 10 years, which is renewable. The cost to lease a pair of pandas ranges from $1 million to $2 million per year, plus additional expenses for constructing and maintaining facilities for the animals. Any cubs born to the pandas belong to the Chinese government but can be leased for an extra fee until they reach reproductive age. The pandas are returned to China in their old age, usually around 20 years old, and any cubs born abroad are sent back to China at around 3 or 4 years old. The San Diego Zoo returned its pandas in 2019, and the last panda at the zoo in Memphis, Tennessee, was sent back to China earlier this year. If the National Zoo’s pandas leave, the only remaining giant pandas in the United States will be at Zoo Atlanta, but even that loan agreement expires late next year.
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According to Wilder, the Chinese may be using the panda withdrawals as a way to send a message. He points to various sources of tension between China and the US, including US sanctions on prominent Chinese individuals, restrictions on Chinese semiconductor imports, allegations of Chinese-made fentanyl flooding American cities, suspicions regarding Chinese ownership of TikTok, and the controversy over a Chinese balloon floating over the US earlier this year. Despite this, some observers remain hopeful for a last-minute intervention. Xie Feng, the Chinese ambassador to the US, has made semi-optimistic statements about the pandas’ future. “I will do my utmost to do that, and here, in Aspen, there also will be [pandas],” Xie said during the Aspen Security Forum in July in Aspen, Colorado. For more information, click here.
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