U.S. Sees Harm to Pandas, Says No to Detroit Exhibit

A Michigan exhibition of two rare giant pandas from China might harm the species, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said today in refusing permission to import the animals.

The Pandarama exhibit, sponsored by Michigan United Conservation Clubs and the state Department of Natural Resources, would have displayed the animals for 100 days this summer at the Michigan State Fairgrounds in Detroit.

Under an agreement with China’s Sichuan province, the exhibitors were to pay at least $300,000 for the loan of the pandas, and the money was to be used to build a panda captive-breeding facility and to improve wild pandas’ natural habitat.

“There are some risks to the species from the loan which are not adequately outweighed by the potential benefits,” the Fish and Wildlife decision said. “A reduction in the threat of extinction from this import cannot be demonstrated from the information in the record.”

The decision said expansion of facilities for breeding pandas in captivity “could lead to the removal of additional animals from the wild to stock it.”

The two pandas proposed for the Michigan exhibit are already living in captivity in the Chendu Zoo in China.

Under an international treaty, pandas born in 1984 and after cannot be imported without a permit. Fewer than 1,000 giant pandas are thought to exist.

A spokesman for Michigan United Conservation Clubs, Don Stypula, said the agency’s ruling was “preposterous.” He said the exhibit’s organizers would appeal through administrative channels.

“We’re wondering now how the Chinese are going to react to this,” Stypula said. “This is a slap in the face to them, more so than to us.”