Washington, Jan 24 (EFE).- Washington’s National Zoo presented its new pair of giant panda bears on Friday, which arrived in the country as part of a conservation agreement with China.
Three-year-old Bao Li and Qing Bao made their public debut at the National Zoo on Friday, after completing the quarantine and adaptation period that began when they landed in the United States in October.
Dozens of people, some dressed as pandas, arrived early Friday at the gates of the zoo to be the first to greet the two bears that will be spending 10 years in the city.
Panda lovers visited Bao Li and Qing Bao, who live in separate enclosures, as the bears walked in the snow, ate bamboo, and played with some objects.
According to zoo officials, Bao Li, a male, is sociable and likes to interact with his keepers, while Qing Bao, a female, is a little more independent.
“They are my favorite animals. It’s good to have them back. When you see them, they bring you happiness and joy, and you forget everything else,” Emmy Vickers, a Washington resident who visited the zoo wearing a panda ears headband, told EFE.
The public presentation of the new couple ended after more than a year of panda absence in Washington.
In November 2023, the capital’s former pandas, Mei Xiang, Tian Tian, and their offspring, Xiao Qi, were returned to China following an agreement with the Chinese authorities.
Their departure sparked fears among panda lovers that the capital would be left without the animals indefinitely amid rising tensions between China and the US.
“It was very sad. The whole community was sad because they are such an important part of our lives,” Vickers said.
However, Chinese President Xi Jinping said in November 2023, after meeting with his then-US counterpart Joe Biden, that he was willing to maintain cooperation agreements on pandas.
In October 2024, Bao Li and Qing Bao arrived in Washington on a FedEx Boeing 777 cargo plane called “Panda Express.”
The National Zoo signed a 10-year agreement with the Chinese authorities to pay half a million dollars each year for each specimen.
Bao Li and Qing Bao are genetically compatible and if they have offspring, they would be returned to China before the age of four to be part of conservation programs.
Brandie Smith, director of the zoo, told EFE that the panda’s arrival in the city was “a success of cooperation and diplomacy” and showed that the US and China “can work together.”
“Pandas are an iconic species, and Washington is an iconic city. It makes a lot of sense for this species to be here, at the center of power,” she added.
China began “panda diplomacy” in the late 1950s, but it was not until 1972 that the first pandas were given as gifts to the US following a visit to Beijing by then President Richard Nixon. EFE
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