TOKYO (AP) — Tokyo Zoo's popular twin pandas are set to return to their homeland in China at the end of January, officials said Monday, leaving Japan without a panda for the first time in about half a century.
Prospects for their replacement are also bleak as ties between the two countries have deteriorated.
The twins, Xiao Xiao and his sister Lei Lei, were born at Tokyo's Ueno Zoological Garden in 2021 and grew up, but they remain on loan from China and are due to be returned by February.
Their parents Shin Shin and Lee Ri returned home last year after China granted them time to conduct breeding research in 2011.
The last day of public viewing for the 4-year-old twins will be Jan. 25, according to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government.
Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara said pandas have long been loved by the Japanese people and he hopes the friendship between the two countries through panda diplomacy will continue.
“The exchange through pandas has contributed to improving public sentiment between Japan and China, and we hope the relationship will continue,” Kihara said. He noted that a number of local municipalities and zoos have expressed hope that new pandas will be available for lease in the near future.
China sent the first pair of pandas to Japan in 1972 to mark the normalization of diplomatic relations between the two countries. Since then, Japan has never been without a panda.
Giant pandas are native to southwestern China and serve as the unofficial national mascot. Beijing lends them to other countries as a sign of goodwill, but retains ownership of them and any young they produce.
Relations between Japan and China have deteriorated since Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said in early November that its military could intervene if China took action against Taiwan, the self-ruled island Beijing claims as its own.
Since then, China has restricted tourism to Japan, and cultural events and exchanges between local governments have been cancelled. The row escalated this month when Chinese exercises involving an aircraft carrier near southern Japan prompted Tokyo to scramble fighter jets. He also protested that Japanese planes were attacked by repeatedly locking onto targets by radar – a move seen as possible preparation for a missile launch.
