Giant pandas return to the Smithsonian’s National Zoo for public viewing
Giant pandas Bao Li and King Bao welcome to the public for the first time at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo in Washington, DC.
WASHINGTON — Pandas are, for many, a gateway animal. People are drawn by the bears’ charm and sweetness, and before they know it, they’re hooked: staring through glasses in panda habitats, posting clips of the bears online and emblazoning them on T-shirts and keychains. Spend hours buying photos.
Eventually, this excitement can rub off on other animals.
Francis Nguyen, a longtime panda fanatic who runs the conservation group, “Pandas Unlimited,” says the animals deepened his appreciation for wildlife. After losing three giant pandas when the Smithsonian’s National Zoo lease expired in November 2023, Nguyen instead frequented the zoo, visiting its sea lions and orangutans.
The experience is more common than you might expect. Environmentalists aren’t this unapologetically charismatic megafauna — ecologists say their popularity helps fund and protect countless other endangered species around the world.
“People will come to the zoo to see a giant panda, and then they’ll fall in love with a naked mole rat.” ”
“Pandas are kind of like a gateway animal for a lot of people to care about and appreciate wildlife.”
Are pandas worthy of love?
It may be hard to believe, but no all The giant panda is obsessed. Some, including British naturalist Chris Peckham, have argued that black and white bears are not worth saving.
Pandas spend between 10 and 16 hours of their day eating, just to consume enough bamboo to satisfy their hunger. They are also terrible at mating. Female pandas are only fertile for two or three days a year, making it difficult for them to reproduce.
Panda haters often argue that the billions of dollars spent trying to save them from extinction would be better allocated to saving more adaptable species.
But over the past several decades, pandas have become a symbol of successful conservation efforts around the world. Within the past decade, once-obligatory species have been reclassified as “vulnerable” as their populations have increased in China and around the world.
And since its creation in 1961 World Wildlife Funda leading wilderness conservation organization, has used the panda in its logo. Why all the fuss?
“If you’ve seen a baby giant panda, you don’t ask,” said Stuart Pym, the Doris Duke Chair of Conservation Ecology at Duke University’s Nicholls School of Ecology.
Cash … pandas?
Panda exhibits often drive zoos visitors and revenue. And their appeal directly affects other animals.
“We use these charismatic species like giant pandas to drive large conservation programs,” said Michael Brown Plusgrove, the National Zoo’s curator of giant pandas.
Sales at the zoo’s gift shops and dining facilities are part of its ongoing efforts to protect endangered species.
Pimm, who previously served on its advisory board, said the zoo once rescued a monkey resident in Brazil. Golden Lion Tamarin from “almost extinction” by domesticating and releasing them into the wild,
As the zoo’s biggest draw, the pandas make up a large portion of its revenue.
Last year, the zoo saw a 20% drop in visitors, as it gears up for the departure of its giant pandas at the end of 2023. And after the announcement of two new pandas, Bao Li and King Bao, which debuted with the public. On Friday, the zoo gained more than a thousand new members.
Pandas help protect other species
Money spent on protecting bear wild habitats also benefits other species.
Giant pandas live in China’s Sichuan, Yunnan, Nan Mountains, and Henan regions. According to A, these same regions are home to 70% of mainland China’s forest birds, 70% of its forest mammals and 31% of its forest amphibians. 2015 Duke University study.
Giant pandas are often described as an umbrella species because their conservation ensures the safety of other animals and plants that share the habitat with them. Amid the blitz of conservation efforts and research focused on the beloved bears, other animals in the same habitats have seen population increases.
one Analysis from 2018 suggested that the financial benefit of panda conservation in China is 10 to 27 times greater than the cost.
“Because of the time and effort and resources that have gone into saving the giant panda and giant panda habitat, other species are being saved as well,” Brown-Plusgrove said.
![‘Silent Hill f’ Announced for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series and PC; New Trailer and Details Revealed [Watch]](https://newsplusglobe.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/1741928841_‘Silent-Hill-f-Announced-for-PlayStation-5-Xbox-Series-and-150x150.jpg)
