Mayor Todd Gloria is traveling to China for a farewell ceremony for two giant pandas who will come to the San Diego Zoo under a research and conservation agreement.
Gloria is scheduled to depart Los Angeles International Airport early Tuesday morning and arrive at the Ya’an Panda Base in Sichuan province on Wednesday afternoon local time.
Unkawa (pronounced: Yun Chuan) and Xin Bao (pronounced: Singing Bow) are two giant pandas headed to San Diego soon, although the exact date has not yet been announced.
The conservation collaboration between the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance and the China Wildlife Conservation Society “aims to improve the health and resilience of giant panda populations in some of the smallest and most isolated populations at risk of extinction and loss of genetic diversity,” according to a statement from the San Diego Zoo.
According to a statement from the Wildlife Alliance, Yun Chuan is nearly 5 years old and has a gentle, sweet and loving personality. He is the son of Zhen Zhen (pronounced Zhen-zhen), who was born at the San Diego Zoo in 2007 to parents Bai Yun (pronounced Bai-yun) and Gao Gao (pronounced Gaw-gaw). The first letter of his name, “Yun,” is a reference to his grandmother, Bai Yun, who lived at the San Diego Zoo for 23 years.
Xin Bao is a nearly 4-year-old female “who is a gentle, witty and introverted animal with a lovely round face and large ears,” the zoo said in a statement. Her name means “new treasure of prosperity and abundance.”
“It was an honor to see Yun Chuan and Xin Bao in person and to meet our conservation partners who care for them at Wolong and Bifengxia Panda Bases,” Dr. Megan Owen, vice president of conservation science for the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, said in April. “Yun Chuan’s lineage has deep ties to the San Diego Zoo, and we look forward to caring for them.”
China recalled nearly all of its pandas that it had loaned to U.S. zoos about five years ago when relations between the two countries soured. Cooperation between China and the U.S. could see the return of pandas to zoos, including the San Diego Zoo.
“The return of giant pandas to San Diego is a testament to the nearly 30-year partnership the San Diego Zoo and Wildlife Alliance has built with China, successfully protecting these incredible animals,” Gloria said in February, when the China-U.S. agreement was first reported. “We are pleased that this positive relationship and our support has led to this major announcement, and the people of San Diego can’t wait to welcome pandas back to America’s Greatest City.”
Zoos typically pay $1 million a year for each panda, with the money going to conservation efforts in China, according to a 2022 report by the Congressional Research Service.
China first sent pandas to the United States in 1972, when two were sent to the National Zoo in Washington, D.C. One of the goals of loaning pandas to U.S. zoos was to help breed baby pandas and boost the population.
Conservation efforts have helped giant panda populations in the wild and in captivity grow from fewer than 1,000 to more than 1,800, saving them from the brink of extinction, and the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List downgraded the giant panda from endangered to vulnerable in 2021.
During his visit, Mayor Gloria will also attend a meeting in Beijing with senior officials from the State Forestry and Grassland Administration to “further enhance opportunities and participation in environmental protection for the two peoples,” according to a statement from the mayor’s office. He is due to return to San Diego early Sunday morning.
