Giant pandas are often a fan favorite for zoo goers across the country, but soon all the giant pandas could be leaving the United States. We feel that animals shouldn’t be able to be owned or traded, much less for political bargaining.

The giant pandas in all zoos in the United States are currently on loan from China. According to CBS News, giant pandas have been a “major attraction there since 1972, when U.S. zoos made an agreement with China Wildlife and Conservation Association.” This loan has allowed the U.S. zoos to keep the animals in their facilities over the duration of the loan.

We are disappointed and sad to see the small number of giant pandas in the U.S. beginning to be shipped back to China. According to FOX 5 News, “At every zoo in the country – except Atlanta’s –  that loan (for giant pandas with the Chinese government) will expire in December.” The Smithsonian recently shipped back the three giant pandas previously in their residence, marking the first time the museum hasn’t had pandas since their arrival in 1972.

There is a long and seemingly complicated political history between the United States and China. With tensions between the countries spanning back to the 1940s, war conflicts, trade relations and competitive economic stakes have put the countries at odds. Giant pandas have been traded back and forth between the countries for years, though they weren’t always on loan.

Two pandas named Hsing-Hsing and Ling-Ling were donated to the Smithsonian’s National Zoo as a gift to the Nixon administration 50 years ago on April 16, 1972, according to the National Archive News. The show of friendship between the two ever-opposing countries was historically significant in itself.

It is projected that all giant pandas will be relocated back to China from the United States by the end of the year 2024. Only one panda will remain in the Americas, should the Chinese government withhold further panda contracts. 

“Assuming China chooses not to send over more giant pandas…by the end of 2024 the only panda in zoos throughout all of the Americas would be Xin Xin in Mexico City,” according to CNN.

Because China technically owns the pandas, it begs the question– should countries be able to declare ownership over their native species, such as giant pandas born in U.S. zoos?

While we definitely agree that countries should set laws and regulations in place to help protect Indigenous and endangered animals, we do not necessarily agree with the concept of owning an entire species or using them as a political bargaining chip.

It feels like panda propaganda to revoke access to some of the states’ most popular and beloved bears, dangling the power to approve and deny access to the species at will regardless of the well-being of the animals.

“The giant pandas were escorted out of the zoo in three large shipping crates,” reported The Washington Post on the animals’ departure from Washington D.C.’s National Zoo.

There hasn’t been any explicit communication from Chinese authorities stating the return of all giant pandas has anything to do with the rising political polarization in the United States, but removing the furry long-term residents sends a clear message.

We think there is no reason why live animals should be used to manipulate public perception or political foes. While the giant panda holds great weight in Chinese culture, removing the animals from their long-time homes can be traumatizing for them. It is, morally, a fine line between keeping pandas in inhumane captivity at for-profit zoos versus subjecting them to the effects of relocation.