恶人谷

Tai Shan to Remain Through 2009

By Michael E. Ruane and Debbi Wilgoren
Washington Post Staff Writers
Tuesday, April 24, 2007; 10:58 AM



He's staying!

China's ambassador to the United States announced today that Tai Shan, the popular giant panda cub, will remain in Washington for two more years before returning to China.

Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D) declared today "Panda Day" in the District to celebrate the much-anticipated announcement. In celebration, zoo director John Berry presented Fenty with a framed photo of Tai Shan and a paw print.

Even though the panda cub was born here, he, like his parents, belongs to the government of China. Tai Shan's parents, Mei Xiang and Tian Tian, are at the zoo under a 10-year, $10 million loan agreement. They arrived in December 2000 and are the focus of a research conservation and breeding program designed to preserve the species.

Under the loan agreement, any giant panda cub born to Mei Xiang at the zoo would be sent to a preserve in China for breeding purposes sometime after the cub's second birthday. Tai Shan, the panda couple's first offspring, turns 2 years old July 9.

But in January, the zoo said on its Web site that a longer stay in Washington was the "subject of current negotiations between China and the zoo." That announcement fueled hope within zoo circles that Tai Shan might linger in the American capital, since his services as a breeding partner probably would not be needed until he is 5 or 6.

In December, Berry visited China's famed Wolong Giant Panda Research and Conservation Center, where more than 70 giant pandas live, 18 of them cubs born there in recent months.

"My purpose was to meet with our Chinese partners, discuss future collaborations, and gain a better understanding of the challenges and advances in panda conservation programs," Berry wrote in a zoo newsletter.

At today's announcement, Chinese ambassador Zhou Wenzhong held up an oversized, mock passport bearing Tai Shan's name and, in bold red print, the words: "Stay extended."

Berry said the agreement to keep Tai Shan on U.S. soil until 2009 carries no price tag. "This was completely through the generosity of the People's Republic of China," he said.

Tai Shan (his name means Peaceful Mountain) was conceived through artificial insemination. The zoo's panda reproductive efforts continued this month when scientists and veterinarians twice artificially inseminated Mei Xiang, on April 4 and April 5. Zoo veterinarians will not know for months whether those efforts were successful.

The three pandas are among the biggest attractions in Washington.

Tai Shan has drawn an estimated 2.25 million visitors since his public debut Dec. 8, 2005, zoo officials said. Millions more have watched him climbing and playing via Web cam. The cub's first birthday party last July was attended by thousands of adults and children, who donned panda party hats and nibbled on cake.

He "is definitely one of the most popular animals here at the National Zoo," zoo spokesman John Gibbons said.

Giant pandas, which are endangered, are difficult to breed, and the zoo's three decades of struggling to produce a healthy cub resulted in many disappointments. A previous pair of pandas produced five cubs during the 1980s, but none lived more than a few days.

When Tai Shan was born weighing four ounces, he was initially dubbed "Butterstick," because he was about the size of a stick of butter. He now weighs 125 pounds.

The cub's admirers have included first lady Laura Bush and the Queen of Bhutan. He has appeared with his mother on the cover of National Geographic magazine and has generated tens of millions of hits on the zoo's Web site. Thousands of gifts, letters, wedding invitations and e-mails have been sent to the zoo for Tai Shan from around the world, zoo officials have said. Zoo gift shops are filled with Tai Shan memorabilia and souvenirs.

Today, 221 giant pandas live in zoos around the world and about 1,600 in the wild, Berry said in his newsletter.

wedding invitations

Tai Shan (his name means Peaceful Mountain)