How much does a panda cost in China?

The reason is because China leases the each panda to zoos for $2 million (in panda cost and research). And then there are the habitats the zoos must build, plus the expensive diets they have - oh, and if there's a baby, that's another $600,000 per year.



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Zoos typically sign a 10-year contract, which means that at the end of that contract, a zoo will have spent $10 million renting one panda. And any cubs that are born while at the zoo? Well, China charges a cub tax of $400,000.

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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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Before the 1980s China gifted pandas, but today they are offered strictly on a loan basis. They are usually leased to the host country for roughly $1 million a year, plus the cost of building a panda facility. The leasing fees are said to cover the costs of giant panda “conservation” efforts in China.

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The potential end of the National Zoo's panda era comes amid what veteran China-watchers say is a larger trend. With diplomatic tensions running high between Beijing and a number of Western governments, China appears to be gradually pulling back its pandas from multiple Western zoos as their agreements expire.

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Twenty-eight of the 60 are in 10 European zoos. Most zoos have 2 or 3 pandas. The zoos with the most pandas are Adventure World in Japan with 6 and Pairi Daiza in Belgium with 5. Chiang Mai Zoo in Thailand is the only zoo with a single panda.

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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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All giant pandas (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) are the property of the Chinese government, and at the country's discretion, can be loaned to qualifying zoos around the world.

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