News Japan to lose its last pandas as Ueno Zoo pair return to China

Japan is set to become "panda-free" for the first time since 1972, bringing to an end a long-standing symbol of goodwill with China. The Tokyo Metropolitan Government announced on Monday that the twin giant pandas at Ueno Zoological Gardens, the last remaining in the country, will be returned to China.



Xiao Xiao and Lei Lei are scheduled to leave by the end of January. Their impending departure has drawn large crowds to Ueno Zoo, where daily visitor numbers for panda viewing have been capped at around 4,800. To ease congestion, each visitor is limited to a one-minute viewing window. From Tuesday next week, access to the panda viewing area will require advance online registration. The final opportunity to see the pair in Tokyo will be on 25 January.

The metropolitan government had been negotiating with China for an extension of their stay ahead of their scheduled return in February or for new pandas to be loaned in their place. However, their stay was shortened by around a month to accommodate the schedule of when the facility in China could take in the pandas, and there are no current prospects for a new loan. The metropolitan government said the Chinese side has not given any response in relation to future arrangements. The departure of the twins, which were born in Tokyo in 2021, would mark the first time in over 50 years that Japan would be without a panda.

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Sunday was the last day the public could say farewell to Xiao Xiao and his sister, Lei Lei, who will return to China today. The twin pandas were born in Japan in 2021 to their mother Shin Shin and her mate, Ri Ri, both of whom were on loan to Japan for breeding research. China retained ownership of them.



Xiao Xiao and Lei Lei became the last remaining pandas in Japan after four others at the Adventure World amusement park in Shirahama, Wakayama Prefecture, departed for China in June last year.

Crowds gathered at a Tokyo zoo on Sunday to mark the departure of the country's last two giant pandas, a farewell charged with symbolism just days before the pair return to China. With Xiao Xiao and his sister, Lei Lei, leaving, Japan will be without pandas for the first time since 1972, when China presented a pair as part of the normalisation of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

Whether China will agree to a new loan remains unclear, as bilateral ties have cooled following comments made last year by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi about the possibility of Japanese action in the event of a Chinese attack on Taiwan. For decades, Beijing has used giant pandas as a means of cultural outreach and diplomatic goodwill, a practice widely known as panda diplomacy.


Visitors needed a prior reservation to see the pandas at the Ueno Zoological Gardens on Sunday, with 4,400 slots available and 24.6 times as many people applying online, according to the Tokyo metropolitan government. An 8-year-old boy residing in Tokyo who came along with his parents said after viewing the pandas, "The two appeared healthy, devouring the bamboo shoots. They were cute." Some visitors went to the zoo even after failing to secure a slot for the public viewing. "I plan to stay in the zoo until it closes. I hope the twin pandas both remain in good shape," said a 60-year-old resident of Saitama Prefecture, near Tokyo.