Japan's last 2 pandas to be returned to China by end of January

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government says twin giant pandas at the city's Ueno Zoological Gardens will be returned to China by the end of next month. Japan will then be without the iconic bears for the first time since 1972.

The deadline for returning the four-year-old pandas Xiao Xiao and Lei Lei is February 20, 2026.

The metropolitan government had discussions with China on the timing of their return and announced that the animals will be returned to China by January 31, 2026. The return will take place after a 30-day quarantine at the zoo that starts on December 27.

Visitors can have a last look at the pandas at the zoo on January 25, when the quarantine period ends.

Officials simply said the pandas will go home ahead of the deadline because a Chinese facility will be ready to receive them by then.

The metropolitan government has been requesting that China loan new pandas. So far, it has not received an official response from Beijing.

A female panda at Oji Zoo in Kobe City, western Japan, died in March 2024. Four others at a theme park in Wakayama Prefecture, also in western Japan, were returned to China in June. The pair in Ueno are the last giant pandas in Japan.

Japan will be without giant pandas for the first time since the first ones from China arrived in 1972 to commemorate the normalization of bilateral ties.

#Japan#Animals
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20251215_10/

Nothing worthy is lost

-Japan in Bharat accent

inb4 : Lebai logik : who needs ccp pandas when japenis has loads of pantatz

Japan don't need pandas.

Actually is it true that pandas only can be found in China? Why not we take two pandas, reproduce and no need loan from china

Already in the contract, if the loan pandas have kids the kids also belongs to China.
Unless we found Panda in Malaysian forest then different case.

We all know why

Everything got consequences

Good also, better evacuate now before kena nuke later

We should also create our own panda diplomacy

Ship out Malayan tigers to countries that friendly with us

Balik tongsan

Waste money to keep, better use the fund for their own local animals, including their humans.

Possible here. Full term pregnancy abang adik oso can hide. Then can claim panda descendants actually from Kedah paddy field just discovered

Malaysian panda not laku laa.....haiyaaa!!

Rental of panda is expensive.

besides being endemic another problem is pandas are kinda a terrible animal, they dont reproduce fast nor want to reproduce, they have terrible basic survival instincts besides the usual human driven stuff causing endangered tier.

even before they masuk endangered animal list also theyre already in super low numbers like in 1000+

They also find in Indonesia,Thailand And Burma.

Malaya Tiger also can found in Thailand ,Burma.

This post has been edited by 3damansarautama: Dec 16 2025, 01:12 PM

So, we should even reproduce more on our own instead of depending on china

you can try, problem is like one mentioned already there are very few pandas in the conservation for breeding/sharing and China controls who can keep them

its like you going to Australia and trying to kidnap a kangaroo to illegally breed in some other nation, Australia also wont allow it unless explicit permission

Waste money, need millions per year