This doesn’t show much of “rising tension”, that’s just media fearmongering.
All that happened was that the loan agreement ran out, and they haven’t gotten around to making a new one. The pandas have been prepped for movement for weeks at this point.
This isn’t just between the US and China. Zoos cannot legally buy and sell animals for cash, favors, property, or any other asset, in an effort to undermine animal smuggling and poaching. Instead there is an international system of trading where zoos will trade and loan animals to each other like Pokémon cards.
This isn’t a political move either; a lot of US zoos are private entities and thus a lot of them treat their animals like shit. There are some beautiful incredible zoos in the US, but a lot of them should be razed to the ground in their current state.
I made a point to go see the pandas in DC before they were gone and they really really needed a sign saying this. Every couple of minutes I heard someone asking “why are the pandas leaving?”.
This doesn’t show much of “rising tension”, that’s just media fearmongering.
All that happened was that the loan agreement ran out, and they haven’t gotten around to making a new one. The pandas have been prepped for movement for weeks at this point.
This isn’t just between the US and China. Zoos cannot legally buy and sell animals for cash, favors, property, or any other asset, in an effort to undermine animal smuggling and poaching. Instead there is an international system of trading where zoos will trade and loan animals to each other like Pokémon cards.
This isn’t a political move either; a lot of US zoos are private entities and thus a lot of them treat their animals like shit. There are some beautiful incredible zoos in the US, but a lot of them should be razed to the ground in their current state.
I made a point to go see the pandas in DC before they were gone and they really really needed a sign saying this. Every couple of minutes I heard someone asking “why are the pandas leaving?”.