Some random cuteness to cap a good week:
Some other good news for DC:
Since China first sent giant pandas to the National Zoo following the normalizing of ties with the U.S. in 1972, the iconic bears have been a sign of friendship between the two nations. But the number of giant pandas at U.S. zoos has dwindled as tensions between Washington and Beijing rose in recent years. D.C.’s last three pandas — Tian Tian, Mei Xiang, and their cub, Xiao Qi Ji — returned to China in November per the terms of the zoo’s loan agreement with the Chinese government. A return was uncertain.
Now, the many new bears China has pledged to send to the U.S. in recent months are a promising sign for “panda diplomacy.” Diplomatic goodwill was on full display during the National Zoo announcement, where Chinese ambassador Xie Feng dubbed the duo “our new envoys of friendship.”
🐼 Meet the pandas: Bao Li is a 2-year-old male and the son of Bao Bao, the female panda born at the zoo in 2013, and the grandson of Mei Xiang and Tian Tian, the two pandas who left the zoo last year. He’ll be joined by Qing Bao, a 2-year-old female.
Bao Li and Qing Bao were chosen for their promising genetic match. But there’s no rush to reproduce. “We’ll have a few years just to enjoy these two, and then people can start asking about cubs,” Smith tells Axios. The average age for cub-bearing starts between 5 and 7.
Reproduction is still important, but it isn’t the #1 priority in this new phase of the program. “We had to crack the code on how giant pandas reproduce — that box is checked,” Smith tells Axios. She says a new focus is habitat health — studying bamboo forests and regrowth — and diseases and issues impacting the animals’ health. The conservation program has helped the species move off the endangered species list to “vulnerable.”
The new homemakers can expect one bougie bear den. Carlyle Group co-founder David Rubenstein’s $9 million panda habitat is getting a $2.5 million facelift — which includes 40 new cameras for a higher-grade PandaCam.
Pandas might be pricey to keep and study, but it’s free to see them at the National Zoo — a big boon for conservation efforts, according to director Smith. “Pandas are the gateway to saving other endangered species,” Smith tells Axios. “You love pandas, but then you might love hellbenders next.”