INSIDE:

NEWS/STORIES/ARTICLES
Book Reviews
Columns/Opinion/Cartoon
Films
International
National
NW/Local
Recipes
Special A.C.E. Stories
Online Paper (PDF)

NW RESOURCE GUIDE
Archives
Consulates
NW Job Market
Organizations
Scholarships
Special Sections

Upcoming

The Asian Reporter Thirteenth Annual Scholarship & Awards Banquet -
April, 2011

May, 2011

Asian Reporter Info

About Us

Advertising Info.

AR Merchandise
Contact Us
Subscription Info. & Back Issues

ASIA LINKS
Asian Studies
Currency Exchange
More Asian Links
Public Holidays
Time Zones


Copyright © 2000 - 2010
AR Home

Where EAST meets the Northwest

FOND FAREWELL. Giant panda Tai Shan is seen on his last day at the National Zoo in Washington. Tai Shan, who was born at the zoo in 2005, has been returned to China to become part of a breeding program. Under the Smithsonian’s panda loan agreement, any cub born at the zoo must be returned to China for breeding. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

From The Asian Reporter, V20, #6 (February 9, 2010), page 8.

By Brett Zongker

Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON — Two giant pandas born in American zoos headed to China by special cargo jet this month to become part of a breeding program in the endangered species’ native land.

Three-year-old Mei Lan of Zoo Atlanta and 4½-year-old Tai Shan of the National Zoo in Washington took the long flight to new homes in Sichuan in their travel crates.

Zookeepers fed Tai Shan apple and pear slices by hand through bars in his shipping crate before he left for Dulles International Airport in a caravan escorted by U.S. Park Police. He munched calmly and looked out through clear plastic windows.

In Atlanta, Mei Lan could be seen pacing rapidly back and forth before her crate was lifted into the belly of a FedEx freighter for a flight to Washington, where she joined Tai Shan for the China trip aboard another Boeing 777 with a panda painted on the side.

It’s a day panda lovers have been dreading.

"He’s our success story," 37-year-old Deanna Williston said of Tai Shan. During a visit to the Smithsonian’s National Zoo, she recalled tracking his growth from the size of a stick of butter to nearly 200 pounds.

She knitted a panda hat based on Tai Shan’s picture and wears it for good luck when there might be another panda pregnancy.

Pandas have a long, symbolic history in Washington. The first panda couple, Ling-Ling and Hsing-Hsing, arrived in 1972 as a gift to the American people from China after President Richard Nixon’s historic visit.

The pair lived more than 20 years at the zoo and produced five cubs — but none survived.

That is partly why Tai Shan, the first cub to grow up in the U.S. capital, is so adored.

"All the other pandas we’ve borrowed from China, but he’s ours," said Amanda Parson, 30, who visited the zoo in the snow with Williston for Tai Shan’s last day on view.

The zoo’s two remaining pandas, mother Mei Xiang and father Tian Tian, are on a 10-year, $10-million loan until December. Veterinarians hope Mei Xiang may be pregnant after a recent artificial insemination.

Tai Shan gave his mother a few sniffs through a fenced window between their separate yards.

The panda handover comes amid tense U.S.-China relations because of a recently announced U.S. arms sale to Taiwan and a potential meeting between U.S. President Barack Obama and the Dalai Lama.

But pandas are goodwill ambassadors, said Robert A. Pastor, professor of international relations at American University. He said "warm and close relationships" can help counterbalance times of tension.

"So people-to-people or animal-to-animal exchanges are an essential dimension to the relationship," he said.