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Washington/ The zoo bids farewell to the pandas

2023-09-30 17:12:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

The Smithsonian National Zoo is organizing festive activities to bid farewell to the panda bears. During their long stay in Washington, the pandas have brought joy to millions of visitors and generations of admirers. As Voice of America correspondent Liliya Anisimova reports, the pandas are preparing to go to China.

Giant pandas have been admired for over half a century by visitors to the Smithsonian National Zoo and the Institute for Biological Conservation. In 2011...staff at the Washington Zoo installed cameras in the pandas' enclosures, which have since attracted over 100 million views. But despite the pandas' popularity, their time in Washington is coming to an end as their agreement with the Chinese Wildlife Conservation Society expires.

"Hopefully this is not the end of the panda program... When we work with animals it's not just about individuals – we work to save an entire species and population. So while it's a bittersweet moment that we're losing these individuals that we know so well, it's a victory for the entire population, for all giant pandas," says Michael Brown-Palsgrove, panda manager.

Visitors have the opportunity to say goodbye to pandas Tian Tian, ??Mei Xiang, and their 3-year-old bear, Xiao Qi Ji, whose birth during the pandemic was watched by over 600,000 people via the Internet.

The parent pandas came to the zoo in 2000 and gave birth to three more bears over the years, before bear Xiao Qi Ji.

"According to the agreement, when the bears reach the age of 4, they go to China and participate in their breeding programs. So two males and one female are already in China and have been integrated into the breeding program and their offspring have been born to successfully continue this conservation effort," says Mr. Brown-Palsgrove.

Today, nearly 1,900 pandas live in the wild and about 600 more in zoos around the world. Thanks to the great work of scientists and international cooperation, the population of giant pandas has increased and this species is no longer considered endangered.

"They have something that attracts you. The way they spin, the way they climb trees, the way they look at you – they make you want to be a part of their world. People come and enjoy seeing them, but also learn more about conservation and how much work it takes to save animals from extinction," says Bob Lee, director of animal care.

For the first time in 50 years, the Washington Zoo will no longer have pandas. Employees say they will maintain their environments, with the hope that one day they will welcome new panda bears from China./ VOA