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New Chinese pandas arrive in US

Oct 15, 2024, 6:36pm EDT
A panda cub at the Berlin Zoo. Lisi Niesner/Reuters
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The News

China began a new chapter in “panda diplomacy” Tuesday, as a new pair of bears arrived in Washington, DC. Their arrival comes about a year after a trio of pandas left the US capital when an exchange agreement expired, sparking concerns that US-China diplomatic tensions would mean fewer furry ambassadors. And starting Wednesday, visitors to the Berlin Zoo will be able to see two rabbit-sized cubs born recently to a panda who arrived in the German capital in 2017.

The global panda program is presented as a breeding and conservation effort for an endangered species — but a New York Times investigation found China has removed more pandas from the wild than it has released, and uses artificial breeding methods that have harmed the animals.

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