Excitement as two new pandas arrive in US from China

The bears, portion of China’s ‘panda diplomacy’, volition enactment successful DC’s National Zoo nether a 10-year agreement.

China has sent 2 elephantine panda bears to the United States to beryllium housed successful Washington, DC’s Smithsonian National Zoo, successful a uncommon diplomatic overture betwixt the 2 countries.

The three-year-old pandas – a antheral named Bao Li and a pistillate named Qing Bao – arrived astatine Virginia’s Dulles International Airport, which serves the US capital, connected Tuesday.

They are among a tiny fistful of the black-and-white bears inactive successful the US, which sent astir of the highly sought animals backmost to their autochthonal China successful caller years nether pre-arranged contracts. That includes the instrumentality past November of the lone 3 pandas surviving successful Washington’s National Zoo.

Many viewed the lack of a speedy replacement for the 3 pandas arsenic reflective of growing US-China friction, but Chinese President Xi Jinping soon promised helium would nonstop caller pandas arsenic “envoys of friendship”.

In August, the San Diego Zoo welcomed 2 caller elephantine pandas, the archetypal to get successful the US successful 21 years.

‘Iconic portion of DC’

Anticipation implicit the accomplishment of the 2 caller pandas successful Washington, DC, has been high, with the zoo’s website featuring a banner that reads: “The pandas are coming”.

“The elephantine pandas are an iconic portion of the Washington, DC story, some for locals and incoming travellers alike,” said Elliott L Ferguson, II, president and CEO of Destination DC. “The involvement and excitement associated with their instrumentality straight benefits the full city, bringing further involvement and visitors to our hotels, restaurants and different attractions.”

Visitors to the National Zoo person been excited astir the accomplishment of the 2 caller pandas [Ken Cedeno/Reuters]

The National Zoo has been renovating its panda situation up of the caller bears’ arrival, mounting up caller shallow pools and bamboo stands.

The pandas volition not beryllium disposable to the nationalist for much than a period arsenic they quarantine and acclimate to their caller habitat.

‘Panda diplomacy’

China has been utilizing alleged “panda diplomacy” since 1972, erstwhile the archetypal animals were sent to Washington arsenic a gift, pursuing US President Richard Nixon’s historical sojourn to China.

Later, a rolling bid of 10-year practice agreements was struck, which Chinese Embassy spokesperson Liu Pengyu credited with advancing probe successful panda preservation.

“The existent circular of practice volition absorption connected prevention and attraction of large diseases, and extortion of habitats and chaotic elephantine panda populations,” Liu told the Associated Press via email. “We anticipation the accomplishment of the pandas volition inject caller impetus into exchanges betwixt China and the US, and assistance to stabilise the broader bilateral narration arsenic well.”

As of 2014, determination were astir 1,860 elephantine pandas successful the wild, a 17 percent summation from the decennary before, according to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). In 2021, Chinese conservationists reclassified the carnal from an endangered taxon to 1 that is vulnerable.

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Al Jazeera and quality agencies