Why does China protect pandas?

Pandas bring enormous economic benefits to these local communities through ecotourism and other complementary, nature-related activities due to the increase in globalization. The mountains of the wild pandas also form the watershed for the Yangtze and Yellow rivers, which are the economic arteries of China.



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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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In 2010, China's panda nature reserves generated US$709 million from cultural services such as tourism and loaning out pandas to zoos overseas, and US$1.9 billion from improved ecosystems, by providing a better environment to locals and wildlife in areas where there are panda reserves, the study said.

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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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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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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 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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Lease policy 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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  • In Berlin Zoo, Berlin, Bao Bao (1978–2012) was one of the first two giant pandas in Germany and became—for a time—the oldest known panda in zoos. ...
  • ZooParc de Beauval, Saint-Aignan, Loir-et-Cher, France is home to Huan Huan (F) and Yuan Zi (M) since 15 January 2012.


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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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We have read the enlightening NY Times article about how pandas in U.S. zoos are like money pits, though adorable ones. The reason is because China leases the each panda to zoos for $2 million (in panda cost and research).

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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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