Current:Home > ScamsDC pandas will be returning to China in mid-November, weeks earlier than expected-DB Wealth Institute B2 Reviews & Ratings
DC pandas will be returning to China in mid-November, weeks earlier than expected
lotradecoin exchange View Date:2024-12-26 01:34:08
WASHINGTON (AP) — The National Zoo’s three celebrity giant pandas will be heading home a little earlier than expected. Zoo officials told The Associated Press on Thursday that adult bears Mei Xiang and Tian Tian and their cub Xiao Qi Ji will be returning to China sometime in mid-November.
The zoo’s exchange agreement with the Chinese government, originally brokered by President Richard Nixon 50 years ago, expires Dec. 7. Ongoing negotiations to extend the agreement haven’t produced results, amid speculation from China-watchers that Beijing is gradually pulling its pandas from Western nations due to deteriorating diplomatic relations with the U.S. and other countries.
Panda-philes around the country had circled the December date as the last chance to view the iconic bears. But the zoo, for undisclosed reasons, said the departure would happen about three weeks earlier.
“Discussions with our Chinese partner, the China Wildlife Conservation Association, to develop a future giant panda program will likely start after the current pandas have returned to China,” zoo spokesperson Annalisa Meyer said in an email. “After 51 years of success, we remain committed to giant panda conservation. ... It’s our intention to have giant pandas at the Zoo again and continue our research here and conservation work in China.”
The bears have been a wildly popular attraction and an unofficial symbol of the nation’s capital for decades. Every birthday and anniversary was an occasion for public celebration and the long-shot birth of Xiao Qi Ji in the midst of the pandemic in August 2020 drove millions of viewers to the zoo’s panda-cam.
Zoo officials say they remain hopeful they will come to a new agreement with the Chinese government. The San Diego zoo returned its pandas in 2019, and the last bear at the Memphis, Tennessee, zoo went home earlier this year. The departure of the National Zoo’s bears would mean that the only giant pandas left in America are at the Atlanta Zoo — and that loan agreement expires late next year.
Beijing currently lends out 65 pandas to 19 countries through “cooperative research programs” with a stated mission to better protect the vulnerable species. The pandas return to China when they reach old age, and any cubs born in the United States are sent to China around age 3 or 4.
veryGood! (5)
Related
- Video shows 2 toddlers in diapers, distraught in the middle of Texas highway after crash
- Matt Damon's Daughter Isabella Reveals College Plans After High School Graduation
- England vs. Serbia: Why Three Lions will (or won't) win Euro 2024 to end trophy drought
- Rome LGBTQ+ Pride parade celebrates 30th anniversary, makes fun of Pope Francis comments
- The Notebook Actress Gena Rowlands Dead at 94
- Much of U.S. braces for extreme weather, from southern heat wave to possible snow in the Rockies
- North West's Sassiest Moments Prove She's Ready to Take on the World
- 'Greatest fans in the world': Phillies supporters turn Baltimore into playoff atmosphere
- Get 70% Off Kate Spade, 70% Off Coach, 40% Off Banana Republic, 40% Off Disney & Today's Top Deals
- U.S. sanctions Israeli group for damaging humanitarian aid to Palestinian civilians
Ranking
- Wisconsin’s Evers urges federal judge not to make changes at youth prison in wake of counselor death
- Inside Wild Rumpus Books, the coolest bookstore home to cats, chinchillas and more pets
- Edmonton Oilers are searching for answers down 3-0 in the Stanley Cup Final
- Think cicadas are weird? Check out superfans, who eat the bugs, use them in art and even striptease
- Justice Department defends Boeing plea deal against criticism by 737 Max crash victims’ families
- Run, Don’t Walk to Anthropologie to Save an Extra 40% off Their Sale Full of Cute Summer Dresses & More
- Musk discusses multibillion-dollar pay package vote at Tesla's annual shareholder meeting
- NY governor’s subway mask ban proposal sparks debate over right to anonymous protest
Recommendation
-
Anchorage police shoot, kill teenage girl who had knife; 6th police shooting in 3 months
-
Kate Middleton Makes First Formal Appearance in 6 Months at Trooping the Colour 2024
-
Joey Chestnut, banned from Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest, to compete against Takeru Kobayashi on Netflix
-
Muslim pilgrims converge at Mount Arafat for daylong worship as Hajj reaches its peak
-
Justice Department defends Boeing plea deal against criticism by 737 Max crash victims’ families
-
Shooting in Detroit suburb leaves ‘numerous wounded victims,’ authorities say
-
Mama June's Daughter Jessica Chubbs Shannon Wants Brother-In-Law to Be Possible Sperm Donor
-
CDC says salmonella outbreak linked to bearded dragons has spread to nine states