China Pursues ‘Rent-a-Panda’ Diplomacy

Despite appeals by environmentalists, China is pressing ahead with its “rent-a-panda” diplomacy by sending the endangered animals to zoos around the world.

Two giant pandas will be flown to Singapore in October and placed on display for three months.

China Wildlife Conservation Assn. official Song Huigang defended the policy and angrily denounced attempts by the World Wide Fund for Nature to stop the practice.

Fewer than 1,000 pandas are believed to survive in China, according to a recent estimate by a leading Chinese zoologist who said the population is being ravaged by illegal hunting and a deteriorating environment.

To protect the bearlike creatures from extinction China stopped giving pandas to other countries in 1985, after donating more than 20 to foreign zoos.

But the “rent-a-panda” business has never ceased and earns valuable hard currency for China.

A 100-day loan of an animal costs more than $400,000, foreign sources said.

“There’s no question of a price,” said a second official of the Chinese conservation association. “But we welcome a donation.”

China said the money is spent protecting pandas.

When Australia rented two pandas in 1988 after Prime Minister Bob Hawke cuddled one in a Chinese zoo, the “donation” amounted to several hundred thousand dollars.

“There’s no such thing as a free panda,” a Western diplomat said.

The World Wide Fund for Nature, which has adopted the panda as its symbol, is opposed to flying pandas around the world because they are an endangered species.

“They have no right to interfere in China’s affairs,” Song said.

“They use our panda as their emblem and have raised $20 million,” he said. “But only $2 million of the money is put to use in China’s panda rescue efforts.”

China said large sums have been spent on saving the animals, which are found only in China, and smugglers and hunters caught trading in their have been executed.