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WASHINGTON, D. C.: One of the most popular residents at the National Zoo in Washington will be shipped to China on Thursday.
Tai Shan, the giant panda who became an overnight sensation when he was born at the zoo in 2005, is part of a long-term loan agreement with the Chinese government.
About to reach his sexual maturity, he will join a breeding program in China, where conservationists are trying to increase the population of the endangered species.
Tai Shan achieved a certain celebrity status in the US capital, as visitors flocked to the zoo to see him and his parents - 10-year-old mother Mei Xiang and 11-year-old father Tian Tian, who were born in China.
Senior curator Brandie Smith said that people now associate the National Zoo with the giant pandas.
"In 1972, our first pandas arrived as a result of President Nixon and the relationship he built with China. Now our pandas here have been with us for ten years. A lot of people come to the National Zoo, and the first animal they want to see is the giant panda," Ms Smith said.
But China owns all 14 giant pandas living in the United States. It loans the animals to zoos in the US and other countries to raise awareness of the endangered animals, and to help scientists study them. And as part of the agreement, any panda cub born in the US must one day be returned to China.
Ms Smith said the programme is very successful.
"I think pandas are an amazing, amazing ambassador for China - people love them, people come to see them. We have had fan clubs spring up around our pandas here because people are so fascinated with them, they want to learn about them, they want to save them," she said.
Conservationists said there are only about 1,600 giant pandas left in the wild. China has established over 50 panda reserves to protect the population.
And so, Tai will be sent to one of the large breeding programs in Sichuan province, where he will be paired with a mate.
Judy Young is one of the many local residents who have watched Tai grow up.
"He is just a special little panda that we all enjoy being around, and get a lot of joy out of his presence," she said.
Ms Young said that she will still come to the zoo after Tai's departure.
"But there will be a big hole, something will be missing," she added.
The zoo has been preparing for Tai's departure, helping him get used to the crate that will be used to transport him.
Moreover, scientists have artificially inseminated Tai's mother, Mei Xiang, in the hopes that she will soon produce another panda cub for the National Zoo.
Negotiations will begin later this year in a bid to keep Tai's parents at the zoo for at least a few more years. In a sometimes tense relationship between the United States and China, this panda exchange programme appears to be a high point.
- CNA/sc
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