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With their cuddly characteristics, their daring colors and the way they sit like humans, pandas are fascinating animals . There is a good chance that you watched them nibble on bamboo in one of the country's many zoos. In recent decades, they have been exhibited at the San Diego Zoo, the Atlanta Zoo, the Memphis Zoo and the Smithsonian National Zoo. But you may not realize that the pandas you visit do not belong to the zoos themselves-they are ready from China.

Unfortunately for panda lovers everywhere, these loans end this year. Once the giant pandas return to their homeland , it will be the first time that the United States has been without them since 1972, according to The Washington Post . Read the rest to find out more about Pandas' history in the United States and why they return to China. AE0FCC31AE342FD3A1346EBB1F342FCB

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According to Global Wildlife Fund (WWF), the pandas are from the mountains of southwest China, where they are considered a national treasure. The first to leave the country arrived in California in December 1936 - a three -month -old name called Su Lin, who would reside at the Brookfield Zoo in Chicago.

Unsurprisingly, the bear the size of a pint was a success. Within six months of his arrival, more than 300,000 people came to visit. "Everyone Helen Keller has al Capone could not resist the chance to visit a panda, "wrote the Smithsonian .

In 1941, China offered two pandas to the Bronx zoo the day before the United States in the Second World War. It was a thank you gift and the last one for a while. In the early 1950s, the United States had no pandas.

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After seeing how well her pandas were well received by allies, China began to distribute more as gifts; Several went to North Korea and to the Soviet Union during the Cold War. After Richard Nixon Visited in China in 1972, China offered two pandas to the National Zoo.

"It reflected a change in the relationship From the enemy state to a friendship , " E. Elena Songster , Historian of Saint Mary's College of California and author of the book Panda nation , said to CNN.

In 1984, China decided to stop offering its pandas for free. He went to offer them via "research" loans at high prices. According to CNN, these generally last 10 years and cost $ 1 million a year; Twenty countries participate.

It is not because loans make them less significant from the point of view of foreign relations. China has recognized its use of pandas in politics. In an compact 2013 for The Washington Post , China ambassador to the United States, Cui Tiankai wrote: "There are actually two Chinese ambassadors in Washington : me and the panda cub at the national zoo. ""

Most years when the United States The Panda loan ends , representatives will negotiate a new one with China Wildlife Conservation Association. This year, however, these attempts failed, reports USA today . The National Zoo in Washington, D.C., will return its pandas, Tian Tian, Mei Xiang and Xiao Qi Ji, in China on December 7. Tian Tian and Mei Xiang have been at the zoo since 2000.

The four Pandas of the Atlanta Zoo will also say goodbye. Two of the pandas, there is one and XI Lunare, should return to the beginning of 2024; The other two, Mon Mon and Yang Yang, will probably remain until the end of 2024 at the end of their contract.

The Memphis Zoo in Tennessee made his panda In April, and the San Diego Zoo returned its pandas in 2019, according to CBS News.

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Dennis Wilder , a principal researcher at the initiative of the University of Georgetown for American-Chinese dialogue on global issues, told ABC News that the End of the Panda Program could be intended for a punitive measurement. "[Beijing is convinced that] NATO and the United States queue against China," he said.

Although there is a chance that the two countries will solve their problems - and reach a last minute agreement on Pandas - it may be useful to visit the Bears now, before their planned departures.

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