Bao Li and Qing Bao will arrive this year under a decade-long breeding and research agreement, the zoo says.
China will send giant pandas to the National Zoo in Washington, DC, US first lady Jill Biden and officials said in a surprise announcement that signals a new era of panda diplomacy between the superpowers.
Bao Li and Qing Bao will arrive in the U.S. before the end of the year under a decade-long breeding and research agreement, the zoo said in a statement Wednesday celebrating the return of animals “beloved across the country and the world.”
“We are excited that children near and far can once again enjoy the adorable, joyful adventures of giant pandas at our @NationalZoo,” the first lady posted on X.
With tensions rising between Washington and Beijing, only a handful of black and white bears remain in the US, and three left the National Zoo six months ago.
But Chinese President Xi Jinping said after meeting US President Joe Biden at a summit in California in November that China could send new pandas as “envoys of friendship between the Chinese and American people”.
The White House said it would be happy to have more bamboo-munching bears.
“We are excited to announce that the next chapter of our breeding and conservation partnership begins with the welcome of two new bears, including a descendant of our beloved panda family, to Washington, D.C.,” said Brandie Smith of the National Zoo Institute. and Conservation Biology from the Smithsonian. .
“This historic moment is proof positive that our collaboration with Chinese colleagues has had an irrefutable impact.”
China has used “panda diplomacy” since 1972, when the first animals were sent to the US as gifts following then-President Richard Nixon’s visit to the communist nation.
Tense relations between the rival superpowers in recent years have prompted Beijing to call some of the pandas home.
We are excited that children near and far can once again enjoy the adorable and joyful adventures of giant pandas in our @NationalZoo.
-Jill Biden (@FLOTUS) May 29, 2024
All three of the National Zoo’s giant pandas – Mei Xiang and Tian Tian, who arrived in 2000, and their three-year-old cub, Xiao Qi Ji (“Little Miracle” in English) – flew back in a cargo plane to to China in November.
The last pandas resident in the US, at a zoo in the southern city of Atlanta, are expected to return to China this year, although the Asian giant announced plans in February to send a pair to the San Diego Zoo.
The newcomers to Washington, DC, both two years old, were born a month apart at a conservation center in the southwestern province of Sichuan. Both still live in the province in separate facilities.
Bao Li, a man whose name means “treasure” and “energetic,” is something of a scion of a storied Washington, DC family.
His mother, Bao Bao, was born at the DC Zoo in 2013, while his grandparents lived there from 2000 to 2023, where they served as ambassadors for their species.
The female name Qing Bao means “green” and “treasure”.
The pandas will be quarantined in their new habitat for at least 30 days, monitored by a team of keepers, nutritionists and veterinarians.
They will have a few more weeks to settle into their new home before a public debut at a date yet to be announced, the zoo said.
“After welcoming nearly 26 million visitors last year, a 16% increase over the previous year, we can’t wait to welcome two more,” Mayor Muriel Bowser posted on X.
“Bao Li and Qing Bao – we hope to see you soon!”
This story originally appeared on Aljazeera.com read the full story
