Just weeks after the San Diego Zoo announced it would bring giant pandas back to the United States, the San Francisco Zoo said it would bring the lovable bears back to Northern California.
“We are very excited about the return of giant pandas to the San Francisco Zoo and Gardens after so many years,” zoo executive director Tanya Peterson said in a statement. “Giant pandas symbolize the hope of conservation cooperation. and bridging the gaps between cultural differences.” We thank Mayor London Breed, city leaders, and Chinese colleagues for bringing these outstanding ambassadors back to beautiful San Francisco!
The pandas will be brought to San Francisco as part of China’s panda diplomacy program, Mayor London Breed’s office said in a news release.
Breed said the city was excited to welcome the giant pandas, and efforts to bring them to the zoo had been ongoing for nearly a year before APEC leaders met in San Francisco in November, with U.S. President Joe Biden meeting Meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
“These giant pandas will honor our deep cultural connections and our Chinese and API (Asian/Pacific Islander) heritage,” the mayor said. “It is an honor that our city has been selected for the first time as a long-term habitat for giant pandas. They will Bringing residents and visitors from all over to visit them at the San Francisco Zoo.”
The last time giant pandas came to San Francisco was in 1985
Giant pandas last came to the San Francisco Zoo for temporary visits in 1984 and 1985, according to the mayor’s office and the zoo.
“In 1984, two giant pandas named Yunyun and Yingxin visited the zoo for three months as part of a trip to the 1984 Summer Olympics, attracting more than 260,000 visitors to the San Francisco Zoo, about the average visit at the time Four times that number,” the mayor’s office said.
In 1985, the giant pandas came to the zoo again for three months.
When did giant pandas come to the San Francisco Zoo?
The arrival time of the giant pandas has not yet been announced.
The mayor’s office said a date will be set once the zoo’s panda enclosure is completed. Preliminary work has begun, with engineers from the Beijing Zoo traveling to San Francisco to meet with zoo officials and assist with preparations.
Why are giant pandas being evicted from U.S. zoos?
Zoos across the country returned pandas last year amid uneasy relations between China and the United States.
In November, three beloved giant pandas, Tiantian, Meixiang, and Xiao Qiji, were removed from the Smithsonian’s National Zoo in Washington, D.C., after failing to renew a three-year agreement with the China Wildlife Conservation Association. Sent back to China.
Xi Jinping made the decision to return them after meeting with Biden in November.
Xi Jinping said: “I heard that many Americans, especially children, were really reluctant to say goodbye to the giant pandas and went to the zoo to see them off.”
Mayor Breed and more than 70 local Chinese and API community and business leaders sent a letter to Jin Ping in February, requesting San Francisco to receive giant pandas.
The history of China lending giant pandas
In 1972, after President Richard Nixon established normal relations with China, China presented the first giant panda to the United States. This approach is called “panda diplomacy.”
For years, China has loaned giant pandas to other foreign zoos in the hope of establishing ties with those countries.
Update: Julia Gomez, USA TODAY
Saman Shafiq is a popular news reporter for USA Today. Contact her at sshafiq@gannett.com and follow her on X (formerly Twitter @saman_shafiq7).
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