Zoo pandas are not quite a black-and-white issue
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One of the pandas at Zoo Atlanta. Photo: Alison Carmona Rau
One by one, giant pandas housed at zoos across the U.S. are returning to China as long-standing loan agreements come to an end, Axios Nashville's Nate Rau writes.
Why it matters: By the end of the year, the only place in the country with pandas will be Zoo Atlanta, and their four bears are also headed back to China soon.
- The only other facility in the U.S. with pandas today is the Smithsonian National Zoo in Washington. But the three bears there will board a special FedEx jet bound for China before mid-November, weeks ahead of their Dec. 7 lease expiration date, Axios D.C.'s Anna Spiegel writes.
Zoom in: Since its exhibit opened in 2000, Zoo Atlanta has contributed $10 million to giant panda conservation in China.
- According to the zoo, that makes giant pandas its most significant long-term financial investment in wildlife conservation.
👋 Nate here: Because I married a person with a fanatic passion for random road trips and cute panda bears, my family ventured down to Atlanta from Nashville in August.
- As soon as we arrived at Zoo Atlanta, we made a beeline for the panda exhibit.
- We are a family of zoo enthusiasts. We're members of the Nashville Zoo and enjoy visiting zoos whenever we travel. The line to see the pandas was by far the longest we ever experienced to see a zoo exhibit.
- We took two tours of the exhibit. The first time, the line was about 20 minutes. The second time, closer to when the zoo closed, there was no line at all.
Details: The pandas are somewhat persnickety. They don't like weather that is too hot or too cold, so they have a climate-controlled indoor area they can retreat to if temps aren't to their liking.
- On this hot August day, they were inside. Two of the four pandas were in the area visible to visitors, and they were very panda-y. That is to say, sweet, clompy and impossibly cute.
By the numbers: Google Photos says we took about 100 photos and selfies with the pandas.
Catch up quick: Zoos in Memphis and San Diego have already returned their pandas. The National Zoo's panda-return deadline was Dec. 7 but the departure was pushed forward a couple of weeks.
- Zoos pay China between $500,000 and $1 million annually per bear.
The bottom line: See the pandas ASAP, as all four are expected to be returned to China in early 2024.