(Washington) She traveled hundreds of kilometers, faced the freezing rain, but for nothing in the world, Jane Christensen would not have missed the opportunity to see the Washington pandas again before their departure for China.
Half a century ago, the sixty-year-old fell under the spell of the giant pandas at the Smithsonian National Zoo in the United States capital. This was when China offered two specimens to Washington as part of “panda diplomacy” which saw Beijing parachute its ursids across the planet to seal the improvement in its diplomatic relations with each other.
“Since then, I have had pandamania,” she said, admiring the mammals despite the freezing rain. For the privilege of seeing the black-and-white-furred bamboo eaters again, she traveled more than a thousand miles from Michigan.
In order to properly celebrate the departure of its three stars by the end of 2023, the zoo is organizing until 1er October a “panda palooza”, or a “panda party” which attracts thousands of admirers. For many, this is the last opportunity to see Mei Xiang, Tian Tian and one of their descendants, Xiao Qi Ji, or “Little Miracle” born in 2020.
Their departure is due to the expiration of the contract with China, but some consider that it illustrates the state of increasingly tumultuous relations between Washington and Beijing.
The first pair of ursids was offered by Beijing to the United States in 1972, following a historic visit by President Richard Nixon to Mao Tse-Tung’s communist China.
In 2000, Mei Xiang and Tian Tian were loaned to the zoo and the first contract provided for the payment to Beijing of ten million dollars over ten years. In a statement, the Smithsonian explains that the current contract provides for the zoo to pay $500,000 per year to its Chinese partner, an environmental protection group.
Live broadcast
The zoo also spent millions of dollars to provide them with adequate enclosures and study their behavior. He also installed a live broadcast which was very popular with the public, making them able to watch them at any time.
“Every day, we watched them on live video, and we ended up here,” Heidi Greco, who drove hours to come with family from Ohio, told AFP.
Her daughter Stormy is “obsessed” with pandas, her mother continues.
The three specimens are not the only ones to leave American soil for China.
The Atlanta Zoo, in Georgia, in the South of the United States, plans to send two twin pandas to China, probably in early 2024 and then their parents at the end of 2024.
“When I heard that these pandas were leaving, that the Atlanta pandas were leaving, and that there would be no more pandas in North America, I was really upset,” continues Heidi Greco.
Mei Xiang and Tian Tian were quite prolific and four of their young survived. During a visit by Chinese number one Xi Jinping in 2015, his wife and the first lady together revealed the name of the couple’s youngest child, Bei Bei.
“ Soft power »
Alas, today, the American panda house will close, against a backdrop of trade tensions and disputes over Taiwan.
Kurt Tong, a former US diplomat and member of the Asia Group consultancy, is not surprised.
The Chinese government tends to “grant” its pandas “to nations with which relations are on an upward slope, it is a form of soft power », he wrote by email to AFP. “Given the current tone of bilateral relations, it is not surprising that Chinese authorities are allowing their contracts with American zoos to expire.”
There are around 1,800 pandas left in the wild in the world, according to the NGO WWF. The population is increasing, but the species is still classified as vulnerable on the International Union for Conservation of Nature red list.
Despite the departure of its ursids, the zoo assures that it “will continue its efforts to ensure a healthy future for giant pandas”.
In the meantime, many visitors crowd in front of their enclosure. The panda is reputed to be a little heavy, but today he walks around the track, up and down the rough terrain of his lair, as if to ensure everyone gets a good photo.