First giant pandas sent from China in decades unveiled at San Diego Zoo. Newsom declares California Panda Day
California’s state animal might be the grizzly bear, but today is another bear’s big moment to shine.
Gov. Gavin Newsom has declared Aug. 8, 2024, to be California Panda Day — a playful (but also politically significant) nod to Thursday’s public debut of two giant pandas, Yun Chuan and Xin Bao, at the San Diego Zoo.
The pandas, in a gesture of goodwill from China, are the first to be sent to the United States in more than two decades.
“We hope that the newly arrived panda ‘envoys of friendship’ will lead to further exchanges and cooperation between California and China,” Newsom wrote in his official proclamation of California Panda Day.
China could be sending giant pandas to the U.S. for the first time in years, reigniting ‘panda diplomacy’ between the two countries.
The idea of pandas not just as a source of cuteness, but also as a demonstration of unity and goodwill was shared by many Thursday morning, as the zoo’s latest residents were officially unveiled.
“California has not only welcomed pandas with great warmth, but also set the pace for friendly exchanges and cooperation with China,” said Xie Feng, China’s ambassador to the U.S.
“We hope that the arrival of the pandas will inject fresh impetus into exchanges between China and California, and help stabilize the broader bilateral relationship, as well,” Feng said.
Newsom echoed the ambassador’s sentiments.
“This is about exchange, this is about understanding, this is about something much deeper, much richer than just two pandas we celebrate,” he said. “It’s about celebrating our common humanity.”
Yun Chuan and Xin Bao arrived in San Diego in June after a collaborative conservation agreement reignited a “panda diplomacy” between China and the U.S. that had appeared to falter for a few years.
For more than five decades, beginning in 1972, China has lent pandas to zoos across the U.S. as “envoys of friendship,” but doubts about the future of these loans grew in 2019 after the San Diego Zoo returned its last giant pandas to China. The Memphis Zoo and the Smithsonian’s National Zoo also have sent back several pandas in recent years, when their multiyear agreements were up.
China’s Xi Jinping hinted at a return of the popular giant panda loan program. This would help another generation of Americans get to know these remarkable animals.
San Diego is a particularly meaningful place to ring in this next era of panda diplomacy. The San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance was the first organization in the nation to establish a cooperative panda conservation program, and researchers there have since made significant contributions to our scientific understanding of how to nurture such a keystone species.
Through a decades-long partnership, the alliance and the China Wildlife Conservation Assn., have been able to boost the survival rate of giant panda cubs from less than 10% to more than 90%, said Paul Baribault, president and chief executive of the alliance.
One of the new pandas, Yun Chuan, in fact, is the son of Zhen Zhen, a female panda born at the San Diego Zoo in 2007.
At almost 5 years old, Yun Chuan is identifiable by his long, pointy nose. He has an active personality, but he is also known to be gentle and sensitive to others. He’s serious about his bamboo but will always let other pandas go first, according to his wildlife care specialists.
Xin Bao, the smaller of the two, has a large, round face and big, fluffy ears that help set her apart from other pandas. She is almost 4 years old and naturally playful — her caretakers have said she is witty and curious, and has proved to be an excellent climber and will even roughhouse a bit with other pandas.
Their new home, the newly expanded “Panda Ridge” at the San Diego Zoo, has been designed to reflect the sweeping mountains, canyons and cliffs of China’s Sichuan, Gansu and Shaanxi provinces. Four times larger than the zoo’s previous panda habitat, this reimagined space also features shade trees for climbing and rolling hillsides for Yun Chuan and Xin Bao to explore.
People wishing to see the new pandas can do so in several ways: Obtain a complimentary timed ticket on the day of your visit, join a standby line in person, or reserve an exclusive 60-minute “Early Morning With Pandas Walking Tour.” Additional information can be found on the zoo’s website.
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