Does China loan out pandas?

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 are sent to China around age 3 or 4.



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That's because almost all pandas, even ones born abroad, are considered the property of China—as part of a loan program it has with selected zoos around the world.

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Panda diplomacy is the practice of sending giant pandas from China to other countries as a tool of diplomacy. From 1941 to 1984, China gave a gift of pandas to other countries. After a change in policy in 1984, pandas were leased instead of given as a gift.

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The Chinese government, which gifted the first pair of pandas - Hsing Hsing and Ling Ling - to the U.S., now leases the pandas out for a typical 10-year renewable term. The annual fee ranges from $1 million to $2 million per pair, plus mandatory costs to build and maintain facilities to house the animals.

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In 1984, China ended panda gifts, switching to a policy of high-priced loans. This history has made Mexico one of a few countries able to keep locally born panda cubs. Since 1985, the loan program has required that zoos return any cubs to China.

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A monthly celebration of the biodiversity of our planet's animals, plants and other organisms. Three US zoos currently host giant pandas: the Smithsonian National Zoo in Washington DC has three, the Memphis Zoo in Tennessee has one and Zoo Atlanta in Georgia has four.

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With the three pandas at the National Zoo returning to their homeland, only four giant pandas will be left in the U.S. The Atlanta Zoo has four giant pandas – Lun Lun and Yang Yang, and their offspring Ya Lun and Xi Lun.

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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.

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A family tree of Mexico's pandas dates back to 1974, when Pe Pe and Ying Ying were born. China gifted the pair to Mexico a year later. When their daughter Shuan Shuan died at 35 years old in 2022, Xin Xin became the zoo's last panda.

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Ya Ya was born in the Beijing Zoo in 2000 and was loaned to the Memphis Zoo in the United States under a 10-year agreement, which ended this April. During her stay in the US, Ya Ya and Le Le, the Memphis Zoo's male panda, were in poor health, which led to accusations that the US was not taking proper care of them.

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The Chinese government, which gifted the first pair of pandas — Hsing Hsing and Ling Ling — to the U.S., now leases the pandas out for a typical 10-year renewable term.

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The zoo claims that this is because of a three-year contract it has with the China Wildlife Conservation Association.

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China technically owns every panda in the world. The pandas are rented to zoos throughout the world for sometimes as much as one million dollars per year.

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Don't expect new pandas to come to the San Diego Zoo anytime soon. The attraction will continue to highlight the status of this threatened species, thereby continuing its legacy even if pandas cubs are no longer in residence there.

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