US Panda Diplomacy: Decades-Long Deal Expires, Forcing Giant Pandas' Return to China

US panda diplomacy has expired and now giant pandas are returning to China where they are native. After a decades-long deal with China, the has vacated its pandas from the Smithsonian National Zoo in Washington, DC, to board them on a plane back to the East Asian nation. This move marked the end of an agreement between the two countries to help the panda bear bounce back its population, which was once near the brink of extinction.

The US panda diplomacy is part of the global panda conservation initiative by the Chinese government that has practiced gifting or loaning giant pandas to other countries worldwide as a symbol of friendship, and goodwill, or to bolster diplomatic relations. Furthermore, this practice also aims to help preserve the giant panda population. Although the number of pandas has significantly increased compared to previous decades, natural and anthropogenic factors still threaten their natural habitats.

US Panda Diplomacy Ends

US panda diplomacy ended amid the souring relationship between the two superpowers, especially in economic and political aspects. Following the departure of three giant pandas at the Smithsonian National Zoo, which includes the black and white bears Tian Tian, Mei Xiang, and their youngest cub, other zoos in the US are expected to follow the 'panda recall' process.

Zoo Atlanta is the other animal enclosure in the US to host pandas from China, including contracts for four panda bears set to expire in 2024. As the panda deal ends, there are no reported signs of extensions that would allow the continuance of the decades-long panda diplomacy between the US and China.

China had also sent pandas as diplomatic gifts to Japan, France, Germany, Denmark, Russia, Australia, the United Kingdom, and others. In the US, panda diplomacy started during the Nixon administration back in the 1970s, when China sent President Nixon two pandas, named Ling-Ling and Hsing-Hsing.

Giant Panda Population

The current giant panda population in the wild is 1,864 which can be found in southwest China, according to the non-profit organization World Wildlife Fund (WWF). Meanwhile, approximately 300 others live in captivity around the world.

Considered a national treasure in China, giant pandas (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) are native to the country's habitats with temperate broadleaf and mixed forests of the southwest region, with China's Yangtze Basin in Sichuan province being the panda's primary habitat.

However, threats to their natural habitats such as forest loss reduce the access of pandas to bamboo which they need to survive, the WWF adds. Furthermore, the expansion of human settlements and the construction of different infrastructures, including roads and highways, can lead to habitat loss and impact giant pandas' quality of life and reproduction.

Meanwhile, scientists point out that global temperature rise in the context of climate change and global warming are some of the major threats facing giant pandas in the wild, in addition to poaching and habitat destruction.