{"id":61518,"date":"2024-05-29T15:57:05","date_gmt":"2024-05-29T15:57:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2024\/05\/29\/welcome-back-pandas-two-furry-diplomats-are-headed-to-d-c-zoo\/"},"modified":"2024-05-29T15:57:05","modified_gmt":"2024-05-29T15:57:05","slug":"welcome-back-pandas-two-furry-diplomats-are-headed-to-d-c-zoo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2024\/05\/29\/welcome-back-pandas-two-furry-diplomats-are-headed-to-d-c-zoo\/","title":{"rendered":"Welcome Back, Pandas! Two Furry Diplomats Are Headed to D.C. Zoo"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"text-align:center\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1050\" height=\"549\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2024\/05\/29\/multimedia\/29dc-pandas-mgwv\/29dc-pandas-mgwv-facebookJumbo.jpg?fit=1050,549&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"Welcome Back, Pandas! Two Furry Diplomats Are Headed to D.C. Zoo\" title=\"Welcome Back, Pandas! Two Furry Diplomats Are Headed to D.C. Zoo\" \/><\/div><p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">It was a long and terrible six months without giant pandas, <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2023\/11\/08\/us\/politics\/panda-zoo-china.html\" title=\"\">Washington\u2019s most famous symbol<\/a> of literal soft diplomacy, but this unbearable (sorry) drought will soon be over.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The Smithsonian\u2019s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute announced on Wednesday that two new fuzzy diplomats will soon be on their way to the United States from China. The pandas, Bao Li and Qing Bao, will be flown over before the end of the year, the <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/nationalzoo.si.edu\/news\/two-new-giant-pandas-coming-smithsonians-national-zoo-and-conservation-biology-institute-china\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">zoo said in a statement<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">They are both 2 years old \u2014 young for a Washington power couple \u2014 and their anticipated arrival is after the departure in November of two adult pandas, Mei Xiang and Tian Tian, who are the grandparents of the male, Bao Li.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The giant panda swapping has been a characteristic of a longtime pact between the Smithsonian and the China Wildlife Conservation Association. Last year, when the agreement keeping the three in the United States expired, panda fans and diplomats alike worried about tensions between China and Washington, and whether those strained ties would prevent the program from continuing.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">At a diplomatic summit in San Francisco in November, Xi Jinping, China\u2019s leader, hinted that the pandas, which he called \u201c<a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2023\/11\/16\/us\/politics\/pandas-china-xi-jinping.html\" title=\"\">envoys of friendship<\/a>\u201d between the two countries, could be returning to the United States. As it turns out, the two zoos hammered out another agreement without the help of high-level diplomacy, according to officials familiar with the pact who were not authorized to speak publicly about such delicate mattersThe San Diego Zoo will also receive a pair of pandas, The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in China <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/05\/01\/us\/pandas-china-san-diego-zoo.html\" title=\"\">confirmed<\/a> earlier this month.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The point of the agreement between Washington and Beijing is to help foster the breeding and care of the animals, and each panda birth is closely watched and celebrated. If pandas of Washingtons past are any indication, the two newbies, who will arrive aboard a special FedEx aircraft, will be touching down to much fanfare.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The new couple has Washington roots: Bao Li\u2019s mother, <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2017\/02\/21\/us\/bao-bao-panda-washington-china.html\" title=\"\">Bao Bao<\/a>, was born in the capital. Michelle Obama attended a naming ceremony for her brother, Bei Bei, in 2015.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Losses are also mourned. Newborn panda cubs are about the size of a stick of butter, and they are extremely fragile \u2014 tiny and pink, they can be bruised easily by human handlers or by the mother. Since they are born nearly hairless, their body temperature must be constantly regulated. When they urinate or defecate, human helpers must make sure their fluid and nutrient levels are healthy.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Under these closely watched confines \u2014 there is also a live panda cam, but you probably knew that \u2014 <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2017\/03\/24\/world\/asia\/china-panda-bao-bao.html\" title=\"\">Bao Bao was a success story<\/a> and had become a celebrity by the time she was sent to China in 2017.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">While they lived in Washington, Mei Xiang and Tian Tian produced four cubs that <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2015\/08\/25\/science\/two-panda-cubs-at-the-national-zoo-present-special-problems.html\" title=\"\">survived beyond infancy<\/a>. Their eldest cub, Tai Shan, was born in 2005 and sent to China in 2010. Fans in Washington <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/news\/worldviews\/wp\/2015\/07\/09\/tai-shan-panda-birthday\/\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">mourned the bear\u2019s departure<\/a>. Mei Xiang gave birth to her youngest cub, Xiao Qi Ji, born during the pandemic, at an age when scientists had thought she would no longer be able to have a baby.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The Smithsonian said the terms of the newest agreement were similar to previous ones. Bao Li and Qing Bao, and any offspring they might have, are owned by China, and any cubs born in Washington will have to return by age 4. The pandas are expensive to care for and study, and the Smithsonian has started a <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/nationalzoo.si.edu\/dcpandas\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">$25 million fund-raising campaign<\/a> to help bolster the program\u2019s budget.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/05\/29\/us\/politics\/panda-dc-zoo-china.html\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It was a long and terrible six months without giant pandas, Washington\u2019s most famous symbol of literal soft diplomacy, but this unbearable (sorry) drought will soon be over. The Smithsonian\u2019s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute announced on Wednesday that two new fuzzy diplomats will soon be on their way to the United States from [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":61519,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2024\/05\/29\/multimedia\/29dc-pandas-mgwv\/29dc-pandas-mgwv-facebookJumbo.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[59426,7205,21185,30906,31819,7812],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61518"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=61518"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61518\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":61520,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61518\/revisions\/61520"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/61519"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=61518"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=61518"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=61518"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}