What’s black and white and fuzzy all over? It’s 2 giant pandas, debuting at San Diego Zoo
SAN DIEGO — The governor of California flew in for the cubs’ debut. Crowds of media gathered at the zoo, while the city of San Diego warned of traffic congestion ahead of the highly anticipated event on Thursday.
The San Diego Zoo rolled out the red carpet for the first public appearance of its famous residents, who were already dressed in black and white outfits. The two giant pandas were seen sunbathing and eating bamboo in their new home, while the the first pandas spotted in the US in twenty years.
For years, the Chinese government has loaned pandas to zoos around the world, a practice called “panda diplomacy.” The furry ambassadors have long been a symbol of U.S.-China friendship, ever since Beijing donated a pair of pandas to the National Zoo in Washington, D.C., in 1972.
As relations between the two countries deteriorated, China stopped extending panda loans to American zoos, prompting the arrival of The San Diego Zoo’s Newest Residents a great relief to many. The city’s previous pandas left in 2018 and 2019.
During his meeting with President Joe Biden In November last year, Chinese President Xi Jinping said in San Francisco that he was “willing to continue our cooperation with the United States on panda conservation” and pledged to reduce tensions between the two countries.
There are currently only four other giant pandas living in the United States, all at the Atlanta Zoo. The Smithsonian’s National Zoo Gets New Pair of Pandas by the end of the year after the last bears returned to China last November. As part of the loan agreement, U.S. zoos typically pay $1 million a year to China’s wildfire protection efforts, and all cubs born in the U.S. must return to China by the end of the year.
The opening ceremony featured dancing, music and speeches by Governor Gavin Newsom, Chinese Ambassador Xie Feng and other local officials.
“This is about something much deeper, much richer, than just the two beautiful pandas that we celebrate,” Newsom said. “It’s about celebrating our common humanity.”
To mark the occasion, Newsom declared August 8 as California Panda Day and recognized the San Diego Zoo as the first U.S. organization to establish a cooperative panda conservation program with China.
Ambassador Xie said that on his flight he met someone who had come all the way from Washington DC to see the pandas.
“Two little panda fans from California wrote me some letters proposing to give grizzly bears to China in exchange for pandas,” Xie said, prompting much laughter.
Both pandas were born at the Wolong Shenshuping Panda Base in China’s Sichuan Province.
Yun Chuan is a nearly five-year-old male panda who the zoo describes as “gentle, gentle, and lovable.” He is the grandson of Bai Yun and Gao Gao, both of whom lived at the San Diego Zoo for more than a decade. His mother, Zhen Zhen, was the fourth cub born at the zoo.
Xin Bao is a nearly four-year-old panda bear who is described by the zoo as a “gentle and witty introvert with a sweet round face and large ears.”
“Her name means a treasure of prosperity and abundance, and we hope she will bring you good fortune,” Ambassador Xie said. He also spoke of China as California’s top trading partner, as well as the state’s large Chinese community and abundance of Chinese tourists.
Among the pandas’ biggest fans are two children who proudly wore “Panda Ridge” T-shirts and carried stuffed animals at the zoo on Thursday morning.
“Pandas are their favorite animals, if you could only see what our house looks like in terms of stuffed animals,” said their father James Metz.
It was also his seven-year-old daughter’s birthday, making it an extra special occasion. For weeks, the family has been watching the live panda feedings from China with anticipation for the bears’ arrival.
Yun Chuan and Xin Bao were relaxing after dinner, Metz said.