News Panda diplomacy: teary farewell to Xiang Xiang

Japan's first giant pandas, Kang Kang and Lan Lan, became an overnight sensation when they arrived at the Ueno Zoo from China in 1972 to mark the normalization of ties between the two countries. It would be more than three decades before the zoo was left pandaless again with the death of Ling Ling in 2008. A new couple, Shin Shin and Ri Ri, arrived at the zoo in 2011. Their first cub, born in 2012, died after only a few days. Their second, Xiang Xiang, was the first panda to be born and raised at Ueno in 29 years. [...] Since the departure date was set in late December, the Ueno Zoo has been flooded with people eager for one last look, with 296,000 visiting in January alone. The wait ran as long as four hours on Jan. 20, the last day before the zoo began limiting visits through a lottery system. The final day of the lottery, Feb. 19, ended up with 24 times as many applicants as available slots.

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