(San Diego) Two pandas from China enjoy their private habitat at the San Diego Zoo in California before their public introduction on August 8. This is the first time in 21 years that pandas have been sent to the United States from China.
This arrival heralds a new cycle of cooperation in the preservation of the giant panda.
Ongoing difficulties in U.S.-China relations have fueled fears that Beijing will back away from sending pandas abroad.
President Xi Jinping allayed those concerns in November when he made an announcement during a visit to the United States.
Another pair will move to the Smithsonian’s National Zoo in Washington later this year, and a third pair will move to the San Francisco Zoo in the near future.