San Diego Zoo Pandas

[tzeitel]

Also, the SD zoo has only had pandas since 1987 (24 years ago), so either your trip dates are fuzzy, or it's no wonder you didn't see pandas on your visit, because they were still in China

ETA: I only know this stuff because the building I work in is near the panda building, so I hear the narrators give this talk every day. If I had a nickel for every time I heard the word "panda"...

That is weird since I went when I was 10 - only time we went to CA on vacation and it was memorable. And I only chose the zoo because of the panda - maybe my mom misread or assumed it was the b&w pandas when she told me about them. All these years I've been holding a grudge for no reason?!

 

[sonnyjane]

That is weird since I went when I was 10 - only time we went to CA on vacation and it was memorable. And I only chose the zoo because of the panda - maybe my mom misread or assumed it was the b&w pandas when she told me about them. All these years I've been holding a grudge for no reason?!

If you REALLY want to get technical, the pandas that came in 1987 were only part of a loan - they were there from July 1987 to February 1988. The SD Zoo didn't get a long-term panda until 1996! In fact the pandas that we have now aren't even permanent residents. They are here as part of a loan from China as well, but we are lucky that it keeps getting extended.

Now that you know the truth, you can let the personal healing begin

 

[tzeitel]

If you REALLY want to get technical, the pandas that came in 1987 were only part of a loan - they were there from July 1987 to February 1988. The SD Zoo didn't get a long-term panda until 1996! In fact the pandas that we have now aren't even permanent residents. They are here as part of a loan from China as well, but we are lucky that it keeps getting extended.

Now that you know the truth, you can let the personal healing begin

I will try but my mom will hear more on this subject

 

[bleeps]

In fact the pandas that we have now aren't even permanent residents. They are here as part of a loan from China as well, but we are lucky that it keeps getting extended.

My understanding is that ALL the pandas in the US are "here on loan;" China does not give pandas straight out to any place. There was a long article about this not long ago -- in National Geographic? -- that explained the current program. Any zoo with pandas pays huge, huge, fees to China for the loan (really astronomical amounts), and even with the admission fees and related sales of "stuff" to panda fans it's generally not a money-making deal for the zoo (hard to believe, I know!). San Diego may have been one of the exceptions to that, but it's still just beyond crazy-expensive to have and exhibit pandas, and China reserves the right to end the loans each time the due date comes up.