Two giant pandas arrived at their new China home Friday to find just what they’d left in the United States.
Both pandas have become appealing helpfulness ambassadors for China in the United States. Millions of people fell in love with 3-year-old Mei Lan from Zoo Atlantaand Tai Shan, a 4 1/2-year-old born in Washington, watching them grow up via online panda cams.
China has long used pandas as a friendly gesture in diplomacy, and they may be China’s most compelling ambassadors as the country clashes with the U.S. on many issues, including trade, human rights and Internet security.
Tai Shan’s departure gave diplomats a rare moment of harmony. Xie Feng, minister of the Chinese Embassy, said that they have grown up with the blessing, love and care of the American people.
The first panda couple at the National Zoo, Ling-Ling and Hsing-Hsing, arrived in 1972 as a gift to the U.S. people after President Richard Nixon’s historic visit. None of their five cubs survived. That’s partly why Tai Shan, the first cub to grow up in the U.S. capital, is so adored.
The young pandas will become part of a breeding program in their endangered species’ native land. About 1,600 giant pandas live in the wild, and another 290 are in captive-breeding programs worldwide, mainly in China.
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