What is the only panda not owned by China?

Mexico's last giant panda, Xin Xin, lounges in her habitat at the Chapultepec Zoo in Mexico City. Xin Xin is the granddaughter of two pandas given to Mexico as a gift in 1975. Today, she's the only panda in Latin America and among the last in the world that doesn't belong to China.



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The Chapultepec Zoo in Mexico City is unique in that it's two giant panda residents, Xin Xin and Shuan Shuan are the only giant pandas in the world not owned by China. There used to be more pandas at zoos around the world, including St.

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The Chapultepec Zoo in Mexico City is unique in that it's two giant panda residents, Xin Xin and Shuan Shuan are the only giant pandas in the world not owned by China.

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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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As a gesture of goodwill following President Nixon's seminal state visit, Premier Enlai gifted two giant pandas to the American people. Nestled in the Nation's Capital and with free admission, the President and Mrs. Nixon selected the Smithsonian's National Zoo as the home for the giant panda bears.

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They were part of China's early “panda diplomacy,” a period when the charismatic animals were gifted to countries around the world. 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.

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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 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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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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American zoos do not actually own the pandas that we enjoy going to visit. China rents pandas out to the tune of $1 million a year. 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?

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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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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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YaYa languished before at the Memphis Zoo and now is much happier in China. A chubby, active, and happy YaYa is now seen playing in the yard of Beijing Zoo.

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Pandas are only native to China, so all pandas in American zoos are on loan from the Chinese government. Even those born on American soil are considered property of China.

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Mei Xiang and Tian Tian arrived in Washington in 2000 and their fourth cub, Xiao Qi Ji, was born in 2020. All three - giant pandas at The Smithsonian's National Zoo, Washington DC - shall return to their ancestral home - China - before the end of 2023.

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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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The oldest panda ever in captivity is Jia Jia, a female giant panda, born in 1978. Jia Jia arrived at Ocean Park Hong Kong in March 1999 and remained there until passing away on 16 October 2016 at the age of 38. The average lifespan of giant pandas (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) is 18-20, in the wild, and 30 in captivity.

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