The last two pandas remaining in Japan will be returned to China in Jan. next year.
According to the Asahi Shimbun on the 15th, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government decided this after negotiations with China ahead of the Feb. 20 return deadline next year for the male twin giant panda "Xiao Xiao" and the female "Lei Lei." The detailed schedule will be announced later.
The newspaper said, "Japan has been requesting new panda lending from China, but prospects for realization are not in place," adding, "If the two pandas are returned without new lending, pandas will disappear from Japan for the first time since 1972."
"Xiao Xiao" and "Lei Lei" were born in June 2021 at Ueno Zoo to father "Ri Ri" and mother "Shin Shin," and the parent pandas were returned to China in Sept. Giant pandas born overseas must be returned to China around age 4, when they reach adulthood.
The two pandas were the last remaining in Japan after Adventure World, a theme park in Wakayama Prefecture, returned all four pandas it had been keeping under a "giant panda conservation joint project" contract with China at once in June.
Japan's decision to return its last pandas to China is seen as being influenced by China-Japan tensions. After Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's hint on Nov. 7 at involvement in a "Taiwan contingency," tensions between the two countries have risen, and the outlook is that negotiations for new lending will be difficult for the time being.