Giant pandas from China could be arriving in the United States again soon, as Beijing is planning to continue its panda diplomacy with Western countries, according to a statement from the Chinese Embassy in the United States.
The China Wildlife Conservation Association reached agreements with the San Diego Zoo in California and the Madrid Zoo in Spain “on a new round of international giant panda conservation cooperation,” according to the statement.
The agreement would keep alive a more than five-decade old tradition of China lending pandas to American zoos in a gesture of friendly diplomacy between the two countries. The return of several pandas to China from the United States over the last several years had raised questions about whether the practice was ending.
China is also negotiating with the National Zoo in Washington, D.C., and the Schönbrunn Zoo in Vienna, Austria, according to the embassy’s statement.
“It’s always been our intention and hope to have giant pandas at the Zoo in the future and continue our research here and conservation work in China,” Dr. Brandie Smith, the director of the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute, said in a statement. She added that the National Zoo was in discussion with the China Wildlife Conservation Association “to develop a future giant panda program.”
Dr. Megan Owen, the vice president of conservation science at the San Diego Zoo, said in a statement that the zoo was “taking important steps to ensure we are prepared for a potential return.”
