![]() Ya Ya was returned to China on schedule in April when the loan agreement expired and received a celebrity’s welcome at Shanghai’s airport. The heat grew so intense that the Memphis Zoo released a statement responding to what it called “misinformation” about its pandas and stating that Ya Ya has “a chronic skin and fur condition” that “makes her hair look thin and patchy” and that Le Le died of natural causes.Įven an official Chinese scientific delegation that visited Memphis and announced that Le Le was not mistreated and died of a heart condition failed to quell the outrage. Giant panda Xiao Qi Ji eats bamboo in his enclosure at the Smithsonian National Zoo in Washington, Thursday, Sept. Have I earned enough for a plane ticket to return home?” One particular meme depicts a miserable-looking Ya Ya gazing at a plane flying overhead with the caption: “Mama, I have worked away from home for 20 years. Slogans such as “the panda’s life matters” surfaced in China’s social media along with emotional memes pleading with authorities to rescue the bear. The campaign gained intensity when photos circulated on the Internet of Ya Ya looking dirty and gaunt (by panda standards) with patchy fur.Īn online petition on demanded Ya Ya be returned immediately, alleging malnourishment and deprivation of proper medical care. Le Le’s unexpected death prompted an explosion on Chinese social media platforms like Weibo, with widespread allegations that the Memphis zoo had mistreated the bear and its female companion, Ya Ya. Pandas generally live 15 to 20 years in the wild, while those in human care often live to be around 30. Those sentiments developed into a perfect panda storm earlier this year when Le Le, a male panda on loan to the zoo in Memphis, died suddenly in February at the age of 24. ![]() That animosity has been at least partially shared by the public in China, where anti-American sentiments are on the rise. You know, we should take back all their farmland.” ![]() Last week, Pennsylvania Democrat John Fetterman complained about China buying up American farmland and added, “I mean, they’re taking back our pandas. The panda-related tension has even spilled into the hallways of the U.S. Visitor walk at the Giant Panda exhibition at Smithsonian's National Zoo in Washington, Thursday, Sept. ![]() government on prominent Chinese citizens and officials restrictions on the import of Chinese semiconductors accusations that Chinese-made fentanyl is flooding American cities suspicion over Chinese ownership of the social media platform TikTok and the uproar early this year over the Chinese balloon floating over America.īeijing, Wilder said, is convinced that “NATO and the United States are lining up against China.” He cited a litany of Chinese-American flashpoints: sanctions imposed by the U.S. Wilder said the Chinese possibly could be “trying to send a signal.” The departure of the National Zoo’s bears would mean that the only giant pandas left in America are at the Atlanta Zoo - and that loan agreement expires late next year. The San Diego zoo returned its pandas in 2019, and the last bear at the Memphis, Tennessee, zoo went home earlier this year. Visitors watch Giant panda Xiao Qi Ji as he eats bamboo in his enclosure at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo in Washington, Thursday, Sept.
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