Pandas Could Be Gone From America’s Zoos By The End Of Next Year
October 3, 2023 12:55PM CDT
Giant panda Xiao Qi Ji eats bamboo in his enclosure at the Smithsonian National Zoo in Washington, Thursday, Sept. 28, 2023. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
WASHINGTON (AP) — The National Zoo’s three giant pandas are set to return to China in December with no public signs the 50-year-old exchange agreement struck by President Richard Nixon will continue.
There are diplomatic tensions between China and a number of Western governments.
And China appears to be gradually pulling back its pandas from Western zoos as their agreements expire.
The departure of the bears from the nation’s capital would mean the only giant pandas left in America are at the Atlanta Zoo — and that agreement expires next year.
Panda-philes visiting the Washington zoo say they’re making plans to visit Atlanta next summer to see those pandas before they leave.
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