China's panda pair settle into new home at zoo in Washington

China

China's panda pair settle into new home at zoo in Washington

2024-10-17 15:52 Last Updated At：18:17

Giant pandas Bao Li and Qing Bao from China are settling into their new home at the Smithsonian's National Zoo in Washington D.C.

Arriving from China on Tuesday, the staff at the zoo are excited to welcome them.

"Oh, my gosh. It is beyond exciting for us to be able to welcome these two new giant pandas here to the zoo. We have such a long history with the giant panda conservation program dating back to 1972. And we've made so many amazing headway in this area, to be able to welcome these two to open that new chapter is just very exciting for us," said Stephanie Brinley, deputy director of the National Zoo.

Dr. James Steeil, supervisory veterinary medical officer at the National Zoo, traveled with the three-year-old pandas from China in a specially equipped Fed Ex cargo plane dubbed the Panda Express.

"I went about a week ahead of time to China, and from there I got to learn a lot of the behaviors and how both of those pandas worked with our Chinese colleagues, and I got to do visual health assessments on those pandas to then determine whether there were anything that I needed to be prepared for the flight," said Dr. Steeil.

The pandas made the journey in excellent health. Researchers here will study them as they age, gaining knowledge that will help conservation efforts.

Zookeepers said their personalities are already emerging.

"Qing Bao is a little more reserved. She's definitely very cautious. She looks at her environment very carefully. Bao Li is very people oriented. He loves to be around his keepers, they're a little bit opposites. But for this pair, you know, my hopes are just hopefully someday they'll have their own cubs," said Laurie Thompson, assistant curator of the national zoo.

For now the two bears have only seen each other from a distance and will live apart in separate yards and indoor areas.

"Because pandas only are reproductively active for like two days a year, so then they're strictly solitary from before that. We keep them all solitary except for the times of breeding," said Dr. Steeil.

A team of experts from China is here to help the bears settle in. Staff members say collaborations with colleagues from China are crucial.

"It's a wonderful cooperative, collaborative relationship that we have with our Chinese counterparts," said Brinley.

The National Zoo is preparing for large crowds, but visitors will have to wait a bit longer to see Bao Li and Qing Bao in person, as they won't make their public debut until January. The pandas need a few months to acclimate before the crowds arrive.

In the meantime, zookeepers are improving the panda habitat and working to improve the visitor experience.

This is the second time this year that China has sent giant pandas to the United States.

Sent as part of a 10-year international giant panda protection cooperation program, the pandas, Bao Li, male, and Qing Bao, female, departed their hometown in southwest China's Sichuan Province, accompanied by an experienced breeder and a veterinarian to help them quickly adapt to their new environment at the US zoo.

Chinese envoy calls for int'l efforts to help Central African countries enhance security capacity

A Chinese envoy on Thursday called for international efforts to help Central African states enhance their capacity for independent security.

Security issues in Central Africa remain worrisome as violent extremist incidents occur frequently in the Lake Chad basin and the number of terrorist attacks in the region has long remained high, Sun Lei, China's deputy permanent representative to the United Nations, told the Security Council.

"The international community should uphold the concept of common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security and provide greater support in areas such as situational awareness, financial input, intelligence and early warning to help countries in the region enhance their capacity for independent security and reinforce the region's security defenses," he said.

The international community should provide constructive support, based on the specific national conditions of countries in the region, in fields such as election financing, reconciliation and mediation, and institutional reform, so as to play a positive role in helping these countries steadily advance their political and peace processes, the envoy noted.

At present, many countries in the region still face development challenges including high inflation, reduced aid, and difficulties in debt repayment, although the region's economy has generally achieved moderate growth, he said.

The international community, especially developed countries and multilateral financial institutions, should take actions to ease the debt burdens of countries in the region and support them in strengthening capacity in poverty reduction, employment, trade and infrastructure in line with their own development needs, so as to enhance their development resilience and consolidate the foundations for peace, he said.

Noting that China and Africa are good friends and good partners, Sun said that China firmly supports African countries in exploring a path toward modernization suited to their own national conditions.

At last month's Johannesburg summit of the Group of 20, China and South Africa jointly launched the Initiative on Cooperation Supporting Modernization in Africa. China stands ready to work with African countries to implement the key areas of cooperation outlined in the initiative and to provide support for peace, stability, development and prosperity in Central Africa, said Sun.