The Chinese Bao Li and Qing Bao-panda couple first appeared to the public on Friday (24) at Smithsonian National Zoo, located in Washington, DC
Bao Li is a two -year -old male. Qing Bao is a two -year -old female.
Visitors watched the couple walk through the snow inside the enclosure. The pandas fed on leaves and played.
Before going to the zoo, the animals were quarantined at David M. Rubenstein Family Giant Panda Habitat to reduce the risk of introducing parasites or diseases into other animals.
During this period, the team of keepers worked to make the pandas active and explore the new house.
Panda Diplomacy
China sent animals as part of a cooperation agreement between the two countries signed last year.
The Chinese government lends pandas to more than 20 countries, such as Beijing’s Friendship Symbol, an action known as “Pandas Diplomacy.”
Sometimes this is seen as a thermometer of relations between countries.
The loan was made months after the zoo returned three Chinese bears, amid increasing tensions between the two global superpowers.
Relations between the two reached historically low levels in 2023.
China’s ambassador in the United States, Xie Feng, commented to Reuters that the new panda agreement was “a very good signal” to the US and China.
“To deepen the bonds of friendship between our two peoples, today I am very happy to share with you some good news,” he said during a speech at the zoo when he announced that the animals went to Washington.
Pandas miniseries on YouTube
The Smithsonian National Zoo has released a miniseries of videos showing from the aerial arrival of pandas in the US, to the day to day life, playing and eating in the new habitat.
The video with the most accesses of the couple was posted on January 6, with over 170,000 views, showing the pandes playing in the snow while Washington DC was covered by a winter storm.
This content was originally published in Chinese Pandas couple are presented to the public in the US on the CNN Brazil website.
Source: CNN Brasil
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