The escalating trade war between the United States and China has people worried that the country will decide to recall all its giant pandas from US zoos.
China currently has the giant animals on loan to three zoos in the US and the increased tensions between the country and President Donald Trump has several zoo officials unsure of the status of the cute black and white animals, per Yahoo.com in a piece published Thursday. (RELATED: Celebrate Anna Kendrick’s Birthday With Her Hottest Looks [SLIDESHOW])
Giant male panda Xiao Liwu eats a meal of bamboo at the San Diego Zoo… April 18, 2019. Picture taken April 18, 2019. REUTERS/Mike Blake
According to the report:
China loans out giant pandas to zoos around the world. In the US, zoos usually cut deals to lease a panda for 10-year periods, paying up to $1 million annually for the privilege.
Two giant pandas currently on loan to the National Zoo in Washington D.C. lease is up December 7 and as of this report it is unclear if the lease will be renewed for those animals. (RELATED: Emmy Winner Working On ‘Mr. Rogers’ Set Suffers Scary Heart Attack On Set. Plummets From Balcony)
Zoo officials told the Washington Post that negotiations with the Chinese on renewing that lease have not yet gotten underway.
The adolescent panda named Bei Bei, born from the two pandas, is headed back to China after it turned four last week. As part of the arrangement, any pandas born in the US must be returned to China when the animal reaches the ages of three to five years old.
People are worried China could recall its giant pandas from US zoos because of the trade war https://t.co/D7ApXxGMkp pic.twitter.com/FuRfOZhott
— Yahoo News (@YahooNews) August 29, 2019
It all comes after the San Diego Zoo recently had to send back their two giant pandas when the lease was not renewed by China.
The other two zoos in the US include Memphis Zoo and Zoo Atlanta.
“Zoo Atlanta is very committed to our partnership with China and to the conservation of giant pandas. Plans for all of the giant pandas in the US are ultimately the decisions of our colleagues in China,” Hayley Murphy, deputy director of the zoo told the Atlanta Business Chronicle.
“We really have a very good relationship with China, and, in fact, they come and visit us every so often to see how the pandas are doing,” chief zoological officer Matt Thompson told the Memphis Business Journal. “But, going forward, we won’t know a 100% for sure what the future will hold until we get closer to that end of the 10-year agreement.”
The giant pandas at the Memphis Zoo have four years left on their lease.