US fans excited to see return of pandas
SAN DIEGO, California — Panda lovers in the United States received a long-awaited injection of hope after Chinese and US wildlife conservation organizations signed a new agreement on giant panda conservation last week.
The China Wildlife Conservation Association inked the agreement with the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, or SDZWA, and Madrid Zoo Aquarium of Spain for cooperation on the conservation of giant pandas, as part of efforts to step up the protection of the species on a global level.
“We are humbled by the potential opportunity of continuing our collaborative conservation efforts to secure the future for giant pandas,” Megan Owen, SDZWA’s vice-president of conservation science, said.
The message spread fast among panda lovers in the US, who are eager to see giant pandas back again. At the San Diego Zoo, many visitors called the news “thrilling”, “fantastic” and “amazing”.
“I screamed when I got an email from San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance this morning, sharing the news of the return of giant pandas. Wow, we are very, very excited,” Lillian Hallberg, a visitor from Boston, said on Thursday.
“This is a wonderful alliance between the US and China.”
Lillian Hallberg and her husband George Hallberg are both panda fans. They have visited the San Diego Zoo and the Smithsonian’s National Zoo in Washington, DC, many times when giant pandas lived there.
“All US citizens love the panda bears, all over the world too,” Lillian Hallberg added.
“They (the US and China) are all doing it together. The conservation worked. It’s very important,” George Hallberg said.
Like the Hallbergs, many people in the US are keen to see giant pandas back.
Claudia Rodriguez, a local resident of San Diego, said she had a great time with the last two giant pandas at the San Diego Zoo, Bai Yun and her son Xiao Liwu, before they returned to China in 2019.
“They were very popular and many people came to see them,” she said. “They were so beautiful.”
Pandas have long been a symbol of China-US friendship.
In 1972, two giant pandas arrived at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo in Washington, DC, also known as the US National Zoo, from China as a gift from the Chinese government following then-US president Richard Nixon’s groundbreaking trip to China.
The San Diego Zoo had pandas from 1996 to 2019 before Bai Yun and Xiao Liwu left the zoo for their homeland in May 2019.
Decadeslong partnership
The SDZWA has a nearly 30-year conservation partnership with research collaborators in China focused on protecting and recovering giant pandas.
These collaborative efforts have had significant impacts, including an increased scientific understanding of giant panda biology, care and wellness, and what pandas need to thrive in a changing climate, according to the SDZWA.
Currently, the giant panda habitat at the San Diego Zoo is under construction. Preparations are underway for the arrival of pandas.
“Our purpose here is not just to showcase pandas. We obviously want people to connect with them, to fall in love with them like we do, and to support our work in conserving them. But the purpose has been, and will always be conserving the species,” Andrew James, senior public relations representative at the SDZWA, said.
“We will continue to maintain that relationship with our partners in China, and the goal is to conserve them (pandas). We’re hoping and we are very confident that the next chapter will be just as successful as the last,” James said.
Jeff He, who traveled from Los Angeles to the San Diego Zoo with his wife and daughter, said he expects to see more exchanges and cooperation between the United States and China besides the conservation of giant pandas.
“Pandas serve as goodwill ambassadors of China. They are adorable and cute. Hope the return of pandas will bring us more joy and hope,” he noted.