China is lending giant pandas to other countries. Another word for the pandas trade is also called panda diplomacy. The animals are rented to a zoo for a certain amount per year. The animals therefore remain the property of China. What is the history of China lending pandas to other countries? What is the reason that China rented out pandas and are there more examples of this so-called animal diplomacy?
The giant panda
The word “panda” comes from poonya. Poonya means bamboo eater. The giant panda is only found in Asia and is endemic to China. The panda has become an endangered species because of humans who needed more and more agricultural land. About 1000 to 2000 pandas live in the wild.
Food
Pandas almost exclusively eat bamboo. Sometimes other plants or small animals are eaten. The giant panda has a predator’s gastrointestinal tract, but the panda almost only eats plant parts. Therefore, pandas must eat large amounts of plant parts.
Reproduction
Giant pandas live solitary most of the time. Pandas only visit each other during the mating season. Females are fertile only one to three days a year. So it is very difficult for pandas to have offspring. The gestation period is approximately 4 to 5 months.
Panda diplomacy
China lends pandas to build trade relations with other countries and states that it also shows friendship between the countries. The pandas on loan are often referred to as loan, but in this panda diplomacy there is actually no actual loan at all. After all, a large amount has to be paid to China every year for the pandas. However, a fee does not apply to loan and renting or lending out therefore seems a better term. Another goal is for the pandas to reproduce in the zoos so that the species can be preserved.
History
During the Cold War, China started the “panda politics”. In total, 23 pandas went to 9 countries in the period from 1958 to 1982.
Pandas to the United States and the United Kingdom
In 1972, the Washington Zoo first got two pandas named Ling-Ling and Hsing-Hsing after US President Nixon’s visit to China. President Nixon then responded by giving two musk oxen. When the two pandas arrived at the Washington Zoo, more than 20,000 visitors came to welcome the animals. During the first year, there were approximately 1.1 million visitors to view the pandas. China’s gift was seen as a great diplomatic success. This was proof that China actually wanted to build a good relationship with the United States.
In 1974, the two pandas Chia-Chia and Ching-Ching came to the London Zoo after Prime Minister Heath of the United Kingdom requested two pandas during his visit to China.
The shift from donating to renting pandas
The above examples are still about donations that were purely for diplomatic reasons. In 1984 this changed and the pandas were no longer given. From 1984 the pandas could only be rented for 10 years by other countries. This rent could amount to $ 1 million a year and a further provision for China if offspring of the pandas were born.
World Wildlife Fund
In 1998 it was decided that in the United States, a panda would only go to a zoo in the United States if China promises that half of the rent paid will be invested in preserving the wild pandas and their habitat.
Diplomatic symbols
When China announced in 2008 that two pandas would be going to Japan, the president of Japan said that the giant pandas are very popular among the Japanese people and that the pandas symbolizes the friendly ties between Japan and China.
On April 16, 2014, two pandas named Fu Wa and Feng Yi are said to be heading to Malaysia due to 40 years of good diplomatic ties between China and Malaysia. However, this was delayed by the tragedy with the MH370. The two pandas arrived a few weeks later on May 21, 2014, and then ended up at the National Zoo of Malaysia.
Ouwehands animal park
Since 2017, he has also rented two pandas to the Netherlands. The pandas are called Xing Ya and Wen Wu. The pandas have taken up residence in Ouwehand’s zoo in Rhenen. The zoo has to pay one million dollars to China every year. It is not known until when the pandas will stay.
Animal Diplomacy: Other Examples
This animal diplomacy is not unique to pandas and has been around for thousands of years. Around 1800 the Egyptian leader Muhammad Ali Pasha already gave giraffes as gifts to King George IV of England, the leader of Austria and King Charles X of France. Some examples of animal diplomacy are:
Bulgaria
In 2010, after concluding a gas deal with Russia, the Bulgarian Prime Minister gave a Bulgarian shepherd puppy to Russian President Putin.
Russia
Russian President Putin regularly hands out dogs to show his friendship or to express his condolences on behalf of Russia. In 2012, Putin gave a three-month-old black terrier puppy to Chavez of Venezuela to thank him for an oil deal. Putin gave a shepherd puppy to France in 2015 after the Paris attacks. During the terrorist attacks the sheepdog Diesel, who worked as a police dog, was killed.
Australia
Australia is known for the koala bear and regularly uses this animal as a diplomatic means. At the G-20 meeting in 2014, world leaders lined up to hold the woolly koalas from a wildlife park. Australia lent four koalas to Singapore for six months. The four koalas Chan, Idalia, Paddle, and Pellita, were hired to mark 50 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries.
Indonesia
Indonesia is known for diplomacy with Komodo dragons. In 1990, Indonesian President Suharto gave a Komodo dragon to then President Bush of the United States. Bush then donated it to the Cincinnati Zoo.
So above are a number of examples, but there are many more countries that use this so-called animal diplomacy.
