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Preparing for panda-monium

 

National Zoo, China part of program
to save natural habitat, curb extinction

April 17, 2000
Web posted at: 11:40 p.m. EST (0340 GMT)

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(CNNfyi) -- The Giant Panda House at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C. has been empty for too long. And the habitat for pandas in their native China is disappearing.

But a new agreement between the zoo and the Chinese government will put the zoo's abandoned habitat to use. As part of a 10-year program designed to rescue the bears from extinction, China will deliver two new pandas to the U.S. capitol.

 

There are only about 1000 of the bears left and zoos throughout the world are trying to save them. The National Zoo, which is operated by The Smithsonian Institution, will pay China $1 million a year for the loan of the endangered giant pandas and China will use that money to improve the animal's natural habitat and promote breeding.

The two new pandas will fill a void left after the zoo's beloved Ling-Ling and Hsing-Hsing died within a few years of each other, leaving the popular panda house without an occupant. The female, Ling-Ling, died in 1992 of heart failure. Her male partner, Hsing-Hsing, had suffered from kidney disease and was euthanized by zoo personnel last November.

Historically, the National Zoo has been involved in species survival plans that are designed to save endangered animals such as the giant panda.

"It's our responsibility to work with endangered species," said Marc Bretzfelder, a spokesman for the zoo. "...Zoos aren't just to exhibit animals."

There are only about 700 to 1,000 giant pandas remaining in China - the only country where the animals exist in nature.

The species is in jeopardy because humans are encroaching on their habitat; they reproduce slowly and their primary food source, bamboo, is dying off.

But zoos can help preserve animals in a number of ways. Zoo Atlanta got two giant pandas, Lun Lun and Yang Yang in November. That zoo, like others participating in conservation plans, provides money to help save and nurture bamboo corridors, conducts research on panda behavior and creates environments conducive to successful breeding, says Megan Winokur, public relations manager for Zoo Atlanta.

"We feel strongly that you can't save just an animal," Winokur says. "We must save the habitat. It's a cause and effect relationship in an ecosystem."

Since the pandas have arrived at Zoo Atlanta, their caregivers have already discovered many of the preferences and habits. For example, Lun Lun loves apples as a treat, likes to carry bamboo around as a toy and is quite playful. Yang Yang, on the other hand, is pretty laid back and likes to lounge. Both like it when their caregivers add lemon scent to their bamboo and will play tug of war with it.

The bears have proven quite popular and sometimes tickets to view them are sold out by mid-day. But those with Internet access can see the duo on the zoos Panda Cam, which shows the bears in their den and around their habitat.

Noting an animal's habits and preferences is part of the research that's integral to helping preserve a species.

Those species survival plans can make a difference, Bretzfelder said. The National Zoo helped the golden-lion tamarin rebound with its species survival plan, he said. That species had about 500 of the animals remaining in its native Brazil when the zoo got involved. The zoo's efforts increased the lion's population by 25 percent, he said.

It will be at least a year before the giant black and white bears make the move from China to the nation's capitol. First the zoo must renovate the panda house, select the bears and get a permit to import the animals.

In 1990, leaders at the American Zoo and Aquarium Association developed the Giant Panda Conservation Act Plan. It entails preserving panda habitats in China, conducting scientific research, providing public education about the animals and encouraging successful breeding of the animals in captivity and in the wild.

Several United States zoos, including those in San Diego, Seattle, Memphis, Philadelphia, St. Louis, Cincinnati and Atlanta are participating in the plan.

In the agreement the National Zoo worked out with China, the country retains ownership of the animals but loans them to the zoo for 10 years at a cost of $1 million a year. Any offspring would belong to China and the zoo would make a one-time contribution to the Chinese Wildlife Conservation Association for the babies. After 10 years, the National Zoo and China will re-evaluate the agreement.

"We will renegotiate it then," Bretzfelder said. "It's impossible to know what might happen between now and then. There could be tremendous births and that could change everything."




RELATED SITES
San Diego's Panda Central
All about Pandas
National Zoo Review
Zoo Atlanta's Pandas
The Bear Den

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