Giant panda cub Fuhin is photographed at the Adventure World amusement park in Shirahama, Wakayama Prefecture, Japan on June 10, 2021. Photo: IC

Recently, the images of Ya Ya, a skinny panda at the Memphis Zoo in the US broke the hearts of animal lovers, who are pledging to repatriate the bear to China as soon as possible. Meanwhile, in stark contrast to the miserable conditions endured by Ya Ya, most pandas sent abroad from China live happy, even "privileged" lives in zoos, as they enjoy global adoration. 

On February 19, in Tokyo's Ueno Zoo, people waited in line for hours at the park, some in tears, to bid farewell to Xiang Xiang, a beloved 5-year-old panda born there, while immortalizing the moment in pictures with the precious bear.  

It was Xiang Xiang's last day meeting the Japanese public. Two days later, Xiang Xiang left Japan and arrived at Bifengxia Giant Panda Base, a giant panda research and breeding facility in the city of Ya'an, Southwest China's Sichuan Province.

Xiang Xiang was born at the Ueno Zoo in June 2017 to mom Shin Shin  and dad Ri Ri, two giant pandas on loan from China, to whom any offspring from the pair also belong.  

Since her birth, Xiang Xiang's growth and development were recorded and closely followed by the Japanese people. Even her name was chosen from more than 320,000 suggestions sent to the zoo three months later.

According to statistics, there are currently around 66 giant pandas residing outside China, including 11 in the US and 9 in Japan, media reported in early March.

In the mid- to late-1990s, China announced the cessation of commercial leasing of pandas in order to better protect the "National Treasure." Countries overseas could only lease giant pandas from China for the purposes of breeding, protection and research.

Despite the high cost of keeping pandas, many countries spare no expense to obtain the leasing rights of the precious and adorable bears. When giant pandas arrive in these countries, they are highly treasured.

Belgium's Pairi Daiza Zoo has dedicated four hectares of exclusive bamboo forest for panda use, with the bamboo species carefully selected. The Ouwehands Zoo in the Netherlands has invested more than 7 million euros in a panda hall with a total area of 9,000 square meters.

In the panda house in Doha which covers about 120,000 square meters, a team including some 10 experts takes care of a pair of giant pandas, Jing Jing and Sihai who started their residency at the facility in 2022. 

The team told the media that they had learned the Sichuan dialect, the language of the natural habitat of giant pandas, in order to cater to Jing Jing and Sihai's habits. Eight hundred kilograms of fresh bamboo are flown in weekly to feed them, according to media reports.

However, because giant pandas are loved by people around the world, they attract a large number of visitors to the zoos, and the resulting revenue can cover the expensive cost of leasing and caring for them. 

For instance, in the first year giant pandas arrived at the ZooParc de Beauval in France, the number of visitors increased from 600,000 to 1.6 million per year.

As of the end of 2022, the captive population of giant pandas globally reached 673, nearly double the number from a decade ago. China, which is the main habitat of giant pandas, has seen the wild population of giant pandas increase from 1,114 in the 1980s to 1,864, according to the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda.

Global Times

Giant panda Ding Ding enjoys a snack at the Moscow Zoo in Russia on March 8, 2023. Ding Ding and her fellow panda Ruyi living here are known for their fierce yet fantastic "Panda Kung Fu" show, with netizens joking that they might have drunk some Vodka. Photo: Xiao Xinxin/GT

Giant panda cub Sheng Yi (Left) and mother Liang Liang are seen in an enclosure during the cub's first birthday celebrations at the National Zoo in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on May 31, 2022. Photo: IC

Jing Jing, a male giant panda, surveys his massive playground in Doha, Qatar on November 18, 2022. Before the kickoff of the FIFA World Cup 2022, Jing Jing and another panda, Sihai, arrived in Doha. Photo: IC

Fubao, the first panda born in South Korea, holds onto the leg of her keeper in January 2021 in Samsung Everland, South Korea. The park said the video clip showing this cute moment has been played millions of times on YouTube. Photo: IC