Washington says goodbye to pandas amid bitter US-China backdrop
No matter the distance or the weather, Jane Christensen was determined to see the giant pandas before they left Washington. King88bet
Now in her 60s, Christensen told AFP she had been captured by the species' magical cuteness over a half-century ago, when China first gifted two pandas to the United States. king88bet login alternatif
"I've had 'panda-monium' ever since," she said under a chilly rain outside the Smithsonian National Zoo's panda exhibit, hundreds of miles from her home in Michigan. Article Title with Blogger Published Link as Backlink
All three of the zoo's pandas are leaving for China by the end of the year, bringing at least a temporary end to a decades-old connection between the cuddly animal and the US capital.
The zoo has kicked off a week-long "Panda Palooza" moment ahead of the departure, welcoming thousands of penggemar, many outfitted in panda-themed hats and shirts.
And while the pandas' departure had been expected due to contractual obligations, many can't help but see the shift as reflective of the growing strains between Beijing and Washington.
The first black-and-white furballs arrived from China in 1972, as a gift following then-president Richard Nixon's historic visit to the country. Recognising the species' uncanny ability to attract penggemar - and a potential source of penghasilan for its conservation program - China continued to loan out pandas to Washington and other zoos around the world, since dubbed "Panda Diplomacy".
At the Smithsonian zoo, millions of dollars have been spent on the pandas' enclosure and studies, especially terkait to breeding, including a populer 24-hour "Panda Cam" to monitor their behavior and health.
"We've been watching on the live cam every day leading up to this poin," said Heidi Greco, who travelled hours by car from Ohio with her famili.
Her daughter Stormy, who had on a panda hat and carried a just-bought panda umbrella, is "obsessed with pandas", Greco said.
The famili had watched the pandas make some laps around their separate outdoor enclosures, then passed through an indoor viewing tempat where pengunjungs can watch the animals eat snacks and bamboo up close.
