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The Mainichi
28-06-2025
- The Mainichi
All 4 pandas at Wakayama Pref. zoo depart for China, leaving 2 in Japan
WAKAYAMA (Kyodo) -- All four giant pandas on loan to a western Japan zoo left for China on Saturday, ahead of the expiration of their lease agreement. The 24-year-old Rauhin and her offspring -- Yuihin, 8, Saihin, 6, and Fuhin, 4 -- left Adventure World amusement park in Shirahama, Wakayama Prefecture, for the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding in China's Sichuan Province, according to the zoo operator. Their departure means that only two giant pandas remain in Japan. Both are at Tokyo's Ueno Zoological Gardens and are also due to return to China next February. About 1,400 visitors queued at the park before it opened for their final public display on Friday, and some 3,000 people attended a farewell ceremony. "It is sad that they leave Japan all at once. I wish for them to stay healthy in China," said Chisato Noda from Nagoya. "I want to visit China to see them. Maybe I'll plan a trip," said Yumi Yokoyama from Ageo, Saitama Prefecture, near Tokyo. The pandas were last on display in outdoor enclosures in May. Over the past month, the public had been able to see them in isolated rooms where they were quarantined ahead of their travel. Chinese government spokesman Guo Jiakun said Friday that China and Japan have established "sound cooperation ties" through panda conservation and research. "We stand ready to continue enhancing exchanges and cooperation with Japan and other partners in the world to jointly contribute to the protection of the endangered species," he told a press conference in Beijing. The Wakayama Prefecture zoo began a joint breeding program with the Chinese panda research base in 1994. It has successfully raised 17 cubs, the most outside China. "The breeding project is finished for now, but we are willing to prepare to accept new pandas in future," the zoo's director Koji Imazu said.
Axios
19-02-2025
- General
- Axios
Zoo Atlanta in talks to bring back giant pandas
Zoo Atlanta officials say they've started talks with China to bring back giant pandas to the city. Driving the news: Zoo officials announced Wednesday that they were "engaging in dialogue" with China and would begin preliminary design work on a giant panda complex to prepare for the big ole goofy creatures' future — but yet to be determined — return. Catch up quick: The zoo's loan agreement with China ended in October 2024, and not long after, the pandas Lun Lun and Yang Yang and their two youngest kiddos Ya Lun and Xi Lun returned home. "All now reside at the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding, as do Lun Lun's and Yang Yang's five previous offspring," the zoo said in a statement. Zoom out: Like Atlanta, the Smithsonian National Zoo in Washington, D.C., returned its pandas to China last year per terms of the zoo's loan agreement with the Chinese government. A return was uncertain at the time, but China sent two new pandas over, and they debuted at the zoo last month. Caveat: Zoo officials say they don't have a formal agreement, meaning no current timeline.
