Want to rent a panda? Here are 5 things China demands in return
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
Male panda Yun Chuan at the San Diego Zoo on Aug 8. US zoos are accepting stricter terms on panda cameras and public statements.
PHOTO: NYTIMES
WASHINGTON – Panda exchanges, like the one that sent two bears to Washington’s National Zoo last week, are governed by closely held contracts. In most countries, the terms of the contracts are never released.
Lawyers for the Smithsonian, which operates the National Zoo, refused to release a 2020 contract. The United States Fish and Wildlife Service, which regulates the import and export of exotic species, provided a San Diego Zoo contract with key passages blacked out.
But The New York Times has found full copies of those documents and others in regulatory filings.
The contracts govern two pandas at the National Zoo and two more that arrived in San Diego this summer.
Comparing these contracts with past agreements revealed that American zoo administrators are ceding increasing authority to the China Wildlife Conservation Association, a government group.
Here are a few of the terms.
Watch what you tell journalists
The arrival of pandas in Washington and San Diego were highly choreographed media events. But zoo administrators have agreed to limit what they tell journalists.
Administrators cannot discuss panda illness, death, disease or “any other important matters” without first consulting their Chinese partners, whose views “shall be fully respected”.
Don’t talk about the money
Zoos pay up to US$1.1 million (S$1.4 million) a year to rent pairs of pandas from China. To raise money, zoos court donations from everyday people and big-ticket philanthropists.
China retains ownership of the pandas, and zoos pay for the right to display and breed them for a decade.
But the China Wildlife Conservation Association prohibits zoos from discussing the deal in that way. “Commercial terms such as ‘lease’, ‘rental’, ‘loan agreement’ or ‘contract’ shall not be used,” the National Zoo’s contract dictates.
All-expenses paid travel
Zoos have agreed to pay for Chinese panda experts to travel to the United States regularly to give advice. The expenses include airfare, hotels and a daily stipend of US$100 to US$150 for each person.
Restrictions on live panda cameras
Ms Ann McCauley, panda camera room volunteer, at the Smithsonian National Zoo in Washington on Nov 2, 2023, before the pandas left for China.
Some zoos previously promoted live, round-the-clock panda feeds. Going forward, they have agreed to limit their live feeds.
Dr Melissa Songer, a Smithsonian conservation biologist, said the National Zoo pushed back on this provision. Its contract is less restrictive. But the zoo will offer delayed footage, she said.
Break the rules? Deal’s off
The China Wildlife Conservation Association can terminate the contract and recall pandas to China for a variety of reasons. NYTIMES
