Russian, Chinese Leaders Become First Visitors To New Panda Pavilion At Moscow Zoo

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 06th June, 2019) Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping visited on Wednesday the new pavilion of the Moscow Zoo, which had become home to two pandas from China.

Earlier in the day, the Chinese leader arrived in Russia on a state visit. Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov earlier reported that the two leaders would take part in the ceremony of handing over two pandas who will live in a special pavilion in the Moscow Zoo.

Putin and Xi got acquainted with the animals. A female panda named Ding Ding is almost two years old, her birthday will be July 30. Male Ru Yi is older than his girlfriend by a year and one day, he will be three years old on July 31.

In late April, it was announced that Beijing was going to transfer two large pandas to Russia for joint research. The relevant agreement was reached during the talks between Xi and Putin during the latter's visit to China.

The big panda, or bamboo bear, is a mammal whose homeland is central China. The species is listed in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species in the category "vulnerable." The Moscow Zoo has joined the program for the conservation, protection and research of these animals.

In 2016, the zoo appealed to the Chinese Embassy in Russia with a request to consider the possibility of transferring pandas for temporary stay under this international program.

Preparations for the arrival of animals, as well as negotiations on this matter, were unprecedentedly quick and took three years, whereas, for example, for Finland the process took 10 years, and for the Netherlands 16 years.

Within the program, two pandas will settle in the Moscow Zoo for 15 years, but legally belong to China, as well as their possible offspring. The first month after arriving in Russia, pandas were held in quarantine. Visitors to the zoo will be able to see animals starting Thursday.

The bamboo bear is under special protection of the state in China. In addition, the panda is a symbol of China and occupies a special place in Beijing's diplomacy. Sending these animals to various countries has already become a tradition, which is often called "panda diplomacy."

Few zoos outside of China can boast that they have bamboo bears. Russia has become the 18th country with pandas in its zoos along with the United States, Japan, the Netherlands, Finland, Germany, Australia, Indonesia and others.

However, the first panda appeared in the Moscow Zoo much earlier. A male named Ping Ping was presented "to the working people of Moscow" by Chinese comrades in 1957 and became a symbol of Soviet-Chinese friendship. Over the past half century, five pandas lived in Moscow Zoo, most recently in 2001.