What zoos have had pandas in the US?

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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Both parents and any offspring remained under the ownership of China. In December 2020, the Zoo announced that giant pandas would continue to live at the Smithsonian's National Zoo through the end of 2023.

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Where Else Can You See Pandas? Outside of China, there are currently 27 zoos located in 21 countries that have giant pandas. The countries that have pandas are: Australia (Adelaide 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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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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And out of the 350 giant pandas, only a mere 50 can be found outside of China. As per reports, China has direct ownership over every living giant panda around the world, even if they might have been born in another country.

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China began to offer pandas to other nations only on ten-year lease. The standard lease terms include a fee of up to US$1 million per year and a provision that any cubs born during the lease period be the property of the People's Republic of China.

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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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Xiao Qi Ji and his parents—Mei Xiang and Tian Tian—will all be sent to China in early December, when the Smithsonian's current agreement with the Chinese government to house pandas at the zoo expires. China has long leveraged its monopoly on the world's panda population as an instrument of its foreign policy.

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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. Wilder said the Chinese possibly could be “trying to send a signal.”

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The pandas return to China when they reach old age and any cubs born are sent to China around age 3 or 4. The San Diego zoo returned its pandas in 2019, and the last bear at the Memphis, Tennessee, zoo went home earlier this year.

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The Zoo's status as an oasis for giant pandas finally came to an end in 2019, when it bid farewell to its last two giant pandas: Bai Yun and Xiao Liwu. This represented the end of the loan program, which had already been extended several times.

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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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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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While giant pandas are no longer endangered, they are considered a vulnerable species. In return for keeping the pandas for a few years, foreign zoos have to pay around $500,000 to $1 million each annually to China.

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An article about the economics of keeping pandas says it costs five times more to keep a panda than the next most expensive animal, an elephant. American zoos generally pay the Chinese government one-million dollars a year in fees as part of a typical ten-year contract.

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