For First Time in 53 Years, Japan Will Be Panda-less
Xiao Xiao, front, and his sister Lei Lei, twin giant pandas, sit on the ground at the Ueno Zoological Gardens in Tokyo, March 10, 2023. (Naohiko Hatta/Kyodo News via AP)
Popular twin pandas at a Tokyo zoo are set to return to China in late January, officials announced Monday, leaving Japan without a panda for the first time in nearly 50 years. Prospects for a replacement are uncertain, as relations between the two countries have soured, according to the AP.
The twins, Xiao Xiao and his sister Lei Lei, were born and raised at Tokyo’s Ueno Zoological Gardens in 2021, but they remain on loan from China and must be returned by February. Their parents, Shin Shin and Ri Ri, were sent back to China last year after being loaned to Japan for breeding research in 2011. The twins’ last day for public viewing will be Jan. 25, the Tokyo metropolitan government said.
Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary, Minoru Kihara, expressed hope that “friendship through panda diplomacy” between the two countries will continue. “Exchanges through pandas have contributed to improving public sentiment between Japan and China, and we hope the relationship will continue,” Kihara said. He noted that several local municipalities and zoos are eager for new pandas to be loaned. China first sent pandas to Japan in 1972 to mark the normalization of diplomatic ties, and since then, Japan has never been without a panda.
Giant pandas are native to southwestern China and are considered an unofficial national mascot. China lends them abroad as a gesture of goodwill but retains ownership of both the pandas and any offspring. Relations between Japan and China have worsened since Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi warned in early November that Japan’s military could respond if China acted against Taiwan. Beijing has since restricted tourism to Japan, canceled cultural exchanges, and escalated tensions with recent military drills near southern Japan that prompted Tokyo to scramble fighter jets.
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