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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Her name is Xin Xin, and she's one of only three pandas in the world not owned by China. But these may be the final day's of Mexico's half-century panda love affair. Mexico's last giant panda, Xin Xin, lounges in her habitat at the Chapultepec Zoo in Mexico City.
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.
The animals are native to China. Xin Xin is a second-generation Mexican-born panda, with a lineage linked to Pe Pe and Ying Ying, who arrived at the zoo in 1975.
China is the only natural habitat of the giant pandas; and Beijing has used the animals since the 1950s as part of its panda diplomacy programme. China has gifted and loaned pandas to other countries, and also taken them back when relations soured! Beijing gifted its first panda, Ping Ping, to the USSR in 1957.
Today, Xin Xin, the granddaughter of the two gifted pandas, is the last of her kind in Latin America and one of only three in the world not owned by China.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Mexico is known for its rich culture, ancient ruins, dazzling beaches, and incredible cuisine. Tour Mayan temple ruins by day and indulge in fantastic food while listening to the rhythms of live music by night. Lounge on tropical beaches and explore the vibrant corals and marine life of the underwater world.
Many countries have no pandas. Some have just one or two, in the hopes that they might breed. South Korea now has five, thanks to the births on Tuesday of twin cubs at Everland theme park just outside Seoul.