Why did giant pandas get together to return to China recently？ Actually, this is the usual practice.

On February 21st, Xiang Xiang, a descendant of the giant panda in Japan, returned to Sichuan. The next day, Yongming, a giant panda living in Japan, returned to Sichuan with her twin daughters.

In just two days, four giant pandas returned to China. This spring, the giant panda ushered in the "returning tide". According to the relevant person in charge of China Zoo Association, giant pandas will return home one after another this year.

On February 22, in Wakayama Prefecture, Japan, "Yongming" and his twin daughters were loaded and ready to return to China. Xinhua News Agency reporter Yue Chenxing photo

Why intensively return to China?

Actually, this is the usual practice.

According to the relevant person in charge of the Provincial Forestry and Grassland Bureau, according to the current international laws and other regulations, giant pandas are all owned by China and the overseas-born population must return to China within a certain age. In 1984, China joined the Washington Convention. There are two main contents about giant pandas: a global ban on giant pandas; Any form of trade in giant pandas and their products is prohibited on a global scale. Accordingly, it is impossible to change the "nationality" of giant pandas. Since then, it has become a fixed pattern that pandas living abroad and newborn pandas must return to China at a certain age.

01

Why go back?

The first is "blind date", and then breed the next generation. According to the regulations, overseas newborn giant pandas should return to China when they are 2 to 4 years old. Because giant pandas usually enter the breeding season at the age of 4 to 6. If you stay overseas to breed the next generation, you may face the risk of inbreeding. Choosing to return to China at the age of 2 to 4 can adapt to domestic life and management in advance and breed the next generation in a better state. In terms of age, "Xiangxiang" who returned to China in February this year is close to 6 years old and belongs to "older young women". The twin sisters "Sakura Bang" and "Taobang" are 9 years old.

The second is pension. Yongming, a male giant panda born in Beijing Zoo in 1992, went to Wakayama Prefecture, Japan in September 1994 to carry out the "Sino-Japanese international long-term breeding cooperation plan for giant pandas". For a giant panda with an average life span of only 25 years, Yongming, who is 30 years old, is old. The purpose of returning to China this time is to enjoy my old age in Sichuan, where medical conditions are relatively perfect and treatment experience is relatively rich.

As for why there is a concentrated return to China this year? The answer is: affected by the epidemic.

Take Xiangxiang as an example. It was born in 2017 and should have returned to China in 2019. However, due to its high popularity in Japan, in June 2019, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that the agreement to postpone the return of the giant panda Xiangxiang in Japan came into effect, and Xiangxiang, who was scheduled to return to China in June of that year, postponed the return time to the end of 2020. However, due to the epidemic and other factors, Xiangxiang was delayed for three times, and it was not until this year that she returned to her hometown in Sichuan.

02

How to reply?

Before returning to China, Japan held grand farewell ceremonies for Xiangxiang and Yongming. In particular, "Xiangxiang", who was born in Ueno Zoo in Tokyo, Japan and was deeply loved by the Japanese people, made Japanese fans reluctant to part at the time of farewell.

In 2017, the birth of "Xiangxiang" ended the history of Ueno Zoo’s failure to realize the "Tian Ding import" of giant pandas for many years. After its birth, Ueno Zoo collected names from all over Japan, and finally selected the name "Xiangxiang" from about 320,000 candidate names. Since then, "Xiangxiang" has been a popular star in Ueno Zoo. On February 19th this year, it was the last public display of Xiangxiang in Japan. There were only 2,600 tickets on that day, but there was a hot scene in which 60,000 people signed up to grab tickets.

It’s not just a farewell ceremony. Before returning to China, Japan also made a lot of preparations for the trip. In particular, in order to adapt them to the living environment on the way back to China. The Japanese side prepared the cages needed for returning to China for shipment one week in advance, and guided Xiangxiang and Yongming into the cages for one hour every day to adapt to the "temporary home" during the trip. At the same time, the Japanese side also sent a breeder who accompanied Xiangxiang and Yongming for many years to set off on the same plane.

Especially Xiangxiang, the two keepers who accompanied Xiangxiang back to China were from Ueno Zoo in Tokyo, Japan, and they were "partners" who accompanied Xiangxiang to grow up. It is reported that before boarding the plane, the breeder specially prepared a large number of foods such as bamboo and rice balls for Xiangxiang to ensure the dietary needs of Xiangxiang during transportation.

However, these measures still failed to make Xiangxiang have a good trip. The staff introduced that Xiangxiang, who took the plane for the first time, kept hitting the cage that shipped it on the way back to China, which was obviously anxious. On the contrary, Yongming, who has rich experience in flying and is old, seems much quieter on his way back to China.

Although "Yongming" and "Xiangxiang" have returned to China, the panda’s foreign exchange will continue. When "Yongming" arrived in Chengdu, a monument based on "Yongming" family, which was presented by Japanese Shirahama Wildlife Park in Wakayama Prefecture, was completed in chengdu research base of giant panda. The Japanese side said at the scene that it hopes to continue the research cooperation with China on giant pandas. At present, there are still four giant pandas living in Shirahama Wildlife Park in Wakayama Prefecture, Japan, all of whom are females.

03

How to settle down?

The return of giant pandas to China does not mean that they will soon be able to participate in collective life and reproduce.

The first hurdle they have to pass is isolation and quarantine. According to the regulations of our government, any living animal must be quarantined for a certain period of time when entering the country. On the day of returning to China, "Xiangxiang" was sent to Bifengxia Base in Ya ‘an, China Giant Panda Protection and Research Center, and the quarantine period was one month. Yongming and Sakura and Taobang, which arrived on the same plane, were also sent to chengdu research base of giant panda for quarantine inspection at the same time.

After the expiration of quarantine, the second hurdle before us is to adapt to the life in my hometown. Among them, it includes "diet" and "language". Previously, four giant pandas in Japan were taken care of by Japanese breeders. How to accept Chinese breeders, understand Sichuan dialect and accept Sichuan food is far more difficult than quarantine.

According to previous experience, it often takes three or four months for a giant panda who lives abroad to return to China and cross the "diet pass" and "language pass". However, the reporter learned that in order to help them adapt to life in their hometown in Sichuan, Japanese breeders will accompany them in Sichuan for some time. The breeders in Sichuan should also find out their living habits during this time and let them accept their own instructions.

The third level is the "breeding level". Apart from "Yongming" who enjoys his old age, "Sakura Bang", "Taobang" and "Xiangxiang" must find their favorite objects in their hometown and complete the task of breeding the next generation. However, considering that the mating peak season of giant pandas is generally from March to May and the estrus period is only about 5 days, there is a high probability that Sakura Bang, Taobang and Xiangxiang, which are in the adaptation stage, will not complete the "lifelong event" this year.

So, how long does it usually take for giant pandas living abroad to give birth to their next generation?

According to the available data, pandas living abroad will usually have their next generation in the third year after returning home. Therefore, if you want to celebrate the "happy event" of "Sakura Bang", "Taobang" and "Xiangxiang", you have to wait a little longer.

Related reports:

According to the above data, the giant pandas Xiangxiang, Yongming, Sakura Bang and Taobang in Japan have returned to China in recent days, and Yaya, a giant panda in poor health in the United States, plans to return to China no later than April 7. In addition to the United States and Japan, Britain and Finland also plan to return the giant pandas … Recently, the giant pandas living abroad have attracted great attention from Chinese at home and abroad.

What is the treatment of giant pandas who live in other places? Are they abused like online transmission? Is it because many countries can’t afford to raise a "national treasure" to return the giant panda? "Expatriate" started every ten years. What role did overseas giant pandas play in promoting China’s diplomacy? We counted 66 giant pandas living overseas and found that this was a complete misunderstanding.

There are the largest number of giant pandas living in the United States.

Speaking of "panda diplomacy", it can be traced back to before the founding of New China. In 1941, in order to thank the United States for its support to War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, China, Song Meiling presented two giant pandas to the United States on behalf of the government, creating a political gift model of "panda diplomacy".

After the founding of New China, the political donation mode continued. Nine countries, including the Soviet Union, North Korea and the United States, were given China giant pandas, and a total of 23 giant pandas became "friendly ambassadors", conveying to the world the kindness and enthusiasm of the people of China and their willingness to take the road of peaceful development.

However, in 1982, in response to the global call to protect endangered animals, China announced that it would stop giving pandas abroad, and pandas mainly traveled abroad by touring exhibitions or renting them commercially.

In the middle and late 1990s, in order to better protect giant pandas, China further announced that it would stop renting giant pandas for commercial purposes. Overseas countries can only rent giant pandas from China on the premise of breeding, protection and research.

According to incomplete statistics, there are still 66 giant pandas living overseas in China.

Among them, 11 giant pandas live in the United States, except Lele, who has lived in Memphis Zoo for 20 years, and 10 giant pandas are located in Atlanta Zoo and Smithsonian National Zoo in Washington, D.C..

The number of giant pandas rented in Japan is also relatively large, with a total of nine pandas. The Bang family bred by Yongming is the largest overseas giant panda family.

"Expired" pandas need to be returned

After pandas become "scientific research exchange ambassadors", the duration of lease is strictly limited, so it is necessary to identify a cooperation agreement with the Chinese side on panda reproduction research. Generally, a pair of healthy and fertile pandas are rented for a period of 10-15 years, and the contract can be renewed appropriately after the expiration.

If the pandas give birth during the lease period, the baby pandas will also be owned by China, and will be returned to China after 2-4 years of birth according to the provisions of the international breeding plan.

Recently, Japan, the United States, Britain and other countries returned giant pandas, all of which were returned normally after the agreement expired. For example, "Yaya" arrived in the United States in 2003, renewed the 10-year agreement in 2013, and returned to China as planned this year.

At the end of last year, Memphis Zoo announced the return of "Yaya" and said that it would cooperate with China to transfer it in the next few months. The spokesperson said that "Yaya" has now entered the old age stage, exceeding the life expectancy of wild giant pandas by nearly 10 years. Now it is time for the leaves to return to their roots.

Affected by the epidemic, the date of return of some pandas to China was slightly delayed. Xiangxiang was born in June 2017 and was originally scheduled to be returned to China at the end of December 2020, but it was postponed to this year due to the epidemic. Similarly, the American pandas Meixiang and Tiantian and the British pandas Tiantian and Sunshine will also return to China after the agreement expires this year.

There are also some zoos, which were difficult to provide protection for the normal life of giant pandas because of the epidemic. For these pandas who need assistance, the research plan will be suspended, and the pandas will be returned to China in advance, and the pandas will never be wronged. For example, due to the epidemic situation in COVID-19 and the shortage of food supply, two giant pandas, Da Mao and Er Shun, who live in Calgary Zoo, returned to China in advance at the end of 2020. At the end of January this year, the Akhtali Zoo in Finland, which was hit hard by the epidemic and fell into operational difficulties, also planned to return two giant pandas in advance.

It is estimated that at least nine giant pandas will return to the embrace of the motherland this year.

Enjoy VIP treatment overseas

Giant pandas in China enjoy top-class living treatment after they arrive in the leasing countries. Major zoos have built luxurious panda halls one after another, for fear of wronged national treasures.

According to incomplete statistics, the overseas panda halls all cover an area of more than 1,000 square meters, with a vast space for activities. The cost of the venue is generally more than $5 million, which can be described as "the most expensive single room". Most of these panda halls imitate the landforms of giant panda habitats in the southwest mountainous areas of China, and plant exclusive bamboo forests, providing pandas with comfortable living conditions.

Comparing the panda halls in various countries, we can find that the Panda Hall in Memphis Zoo, which was built in 2003, has invested a huge sum of US$ 16 million and covers an area of 3 hectares, ranking among the best in terms of construction cost and space area. Recently, the giant panda "Yaya" in the United States, which has attracted attention due to health conditions, lives here. The communication between China Zoo Association and Memphis Zoo shows that Yaya’s living venues and bamboo supply are all right, except for hair loss caused by skin diseases, she is in good health, and there is no online abuse.

In fact, not only is it impossible to abuse, but people all over the world can’t wait to be kind to pandas.

The Paradise Zoo in Belgium has opened up 4 hectares of exclusive bamboo forests for pandas, and the varieties of bamboo have also been carefully selected; In Thailand, Chiang Mai Zoo has built a 600-square-meter snow garden for giant pandas, which has been artificially snowed all the year round, keeping the park at MINUS 6-7 degrees Celsius; The Ovihan Zoo in the Netherlands invested more than 7 million euros to prepare a luxurious panda hall with a total area of 9,000 square meters, including a living area of 3,400 square meters and various functional areas.

The most cute "golden beast"

In addition to spending a lot of money in the place of residence, the living cost of giant pandas overseas is also quite high, and they are veritable "four-legged gold-sucking beasts".

After renting pandas, overseas zoos have to bear the feeding and operating expenses. Because pandas are picky about food, zoos have to plant bamboo nearby or fly bamboo from China regularly. Among them, the annual cost of raising giant pandas in Atlanta Zoo in the United States is $500,000; Malaysia Zoo spends as much as RM 200,000 (RMB 330,000) on giant pandas every month. Berlin Zoo spends nearly 1 million euros every year to buy panda feed such as bamboo, which accounts for a quarter of the total feed expenditure of the park.

In addition to the cost of living, the foreign party has to pay high rent and insurance fees to China. The annual rent for each giant panda is $1 million, and the annual insurance cost is $50,000. If you give birth to a panda baby during the lease period, you need to pay a one-time "cub tax" of 400,000-600,000 US dollars to China.

According to the calculation of National Geographic magazine, renting a pair of giant pandas should pay at least $1 million in rental fee, $300,000 in feeding fee, $600,000 in operation and management fee and $600,000 in research and training plan fee every year. Coupled with the pre-site construction costs and the increased expenses after the panda gave birth, the cost has increased exponentially.

The cost of renting giant pandas is so high, why are countries willing to rent giant pandas?

This is because the cute appearance of giant pandas is loved all over the world, and there are countless circles. The traffic and business income they create for local zoos can easily cover the expensive rental and living costs.

In the first year of giant pandas’ stay in the zoo, the number of visitors to Adelaide Zoo in Australia increased from 349,000 to 595,000 a year. The number of visitors to Bauvalle Zoo has jumped from 600,000 to 1.6 million every year, and ten containers of panda plush toys imported from China are sold every year.

After the birth of Lin Bing, a giant panda baby, the number of tourists received by Chiang Mai Zoo reached 1.4 million, which was significantly higher than that of 800,000 before the birth of Lin Bing. In that year, the ticket income of the Panda Pavilion in the zoo reached 35 million baht (US$ 1.19 million), which was the main income of the zoo.

The arrival of the giant pandas "Sunshine" and "Sweetness" has completely changed the economic situation of the Royal Society of Animals, from making ends meet with an annual loss of 1.2 million pounds to making a lucrative annual profit of 2.4 million pounds.

It seems that no matter in which country, giant pandas are "lucky cats".

The panda family is growing.

With the care of people all over the world and the promotion of the Sino-foreign research cooperation plan for giant pandas, the panda population in the world has been better protected.

By the end of 2022, the number of captive giant pandas in the world had reached 673, nearly double that of a decade ago. As the main habitat of giant pandas in China, the wild population of giant pandas has increased from 1,114 in 1980s to 1,864, and the protected habitat area of giant pandas has greatly increased.

With the continuous expansion of the international and domestic cooperation and exchange platform for giant pandas, the breeding technology of giant pandas is becoming more and more mature, and the overseas families of giant pandas are also "bears" Ding Xingsheng. More and more baby pandas are born overseas. At present, 21 baby pandas have survived overseas.

When a baby panda is born, it always attracts the attention of the whole world, and people at home and abroad are scrambling to vote for the baby. Behind the nice names of Warm, Tianbao, Dream of Dreams and Miracle, there are not only good wishes for the baby panda, but also the confidence of people all over the world in peaceful development.

I believe that in the future, the naive, friendly and lovely giant panda will appear in more countries and contribute to the promotion of world peace and development.