Two giant pandas arrived at the Washington Zoo on Tuesday in the latest chapter of China’s international “panda diplomacy” campaign.
Bao Li, a male panda, and King Bao, a female, were flown from Chengdu to Virginia’s Dulles Airport aboard a FedEx Boeing 777F cargo plane dubbed “Panda Express,” the Smithsonian’s National Zoo said.
The three-year-old bears were then loaded into trucks and taken to their new home at the zoo in the US capital.
“Bao Li and King Bao came out of their boxes and began exploring their new indoor enclosures, in which keepers had placed enough bamboo for the bears to eat,” a zoo statement said.
ICYMI: Two “treasures” arrived at the zoo today! Join us in welcoming giant pandas Bao Li and King Bao, who entered the Zoo grounds just after 11:30 a.m. today and are settling into their new homes in the David M. Rubenstein Family Giant Panda Habitat Are. @Smithsonian pic.twitter.com/gt8OfvpPXi
– National Zoo (@NationalZoo) 15 October 2024
It said they will be kept in isolation for at least 30 days and will not go on public display until January 24, 2025.
“We are thrilled to welcome Bao Li and King Bao to Washington,” said Brandy Smith, director of the National Zoo and Institute of Conservation Biology. “Today we are delighted to celebrate a new chapter in our 52-year-long giant panda breeding and conservation program.”
Only a handful of the beloved black and white bears remain in the United States after nearly all were returned to China under pre-arranged contracts in recent years — including all three pandas at the National Zoo last November.
The lack of an immediate replacement was seen by many as a symbol of rising tensions between Washington and Beijing.
China has been using so-called “panda diplomacy” since 1972, when the first animals were sent to Washington as gifts, following US President Richard Nixon’s historic visit to the communist nation.
Chinese President Xi Jinping said after meeting his counterpart Joe Biden at a summit in California last November that China might send the new pandas as “ambassadors of friendship between the Chinese and American peoples.”
In August, the San Diego Zoo welcomed two new giant pandas, the first to be shipped to the United States by China in 21 years.
The National Zoo’s panda habitat has been renovated to “enhance the security of the facility and maximize space for the bears to roam,” according to the zoo’s website.
New structures created for the pandas include shallow ponds to allow them to bathe and bamboo stands, which require the bears to mimic the foraging techniques they use in the wild.
A popular giant panda cam will be relaunched after the bears’ public debut in January.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
