Panda Homesick for London Zoo
The Cincinnati Zoo has closed its special exhibit of giant panda Chia Chia for at least five days because the rare animal apparently is homesick.
“He’s normally quite extroverted. That’s why we’re concerned,” said Neil Bemment, the panda’s keeper.
The 16-year-old giant panda, captured in China when he was 2, arrived in Cincinnati early Friday after a seven-hour road trip from Chicago. That journey followed a 10-hour flight from London, where he has spent 14 years at the London Zoo.
Since Friday, the 290-pound panda has emerged periodically from his den to eat bamboo for a few minutes, then quickly retreated.
“At first, we thought it was jet lag, but it’s taken much longer than we expected,” said Jo Gipps, curator of mammals with the London Zoo. “Homesick is exactly the word for what’s wrong.”
The delay means that about 3,400 people with advance tickets to see Chia Chia between Sunday and Thursday will have to exchange the tickets or get refunds.
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