Three of Pairi Daiza’s pandas to head back to China

Three of Pairi Daiza’s five giant pandas will return to China soon in accordance with the agreement struck with the country.

China loans pandas to zoos around the world to help with the species’ conservation efforts, generally under the condition that the pandas return to China once they are four years old (a giant panda is considered an adult from the age of five).

One of the pandas at Pairi Daiza is already nearly eight years old: Tian Bao, ‘Treasure of the Sky’, was born on 2 June 2016. Sibling twins Bao Di and Bao Mei were born on 8 August 2019. All three were born after artificial insemination.

“We don't really have an explanation,” Claire Gilissen, spokesperson for the park said of the surpassing of the age limit. “We thought we would have to part with Tian Bao sooner, but the pandemic suspended all animal transport.”

Pairi Daiza said the trio, who have been a major draw for visitors, will likely move to China this autumn.

So far, Pairi Daiza has received two pandas and returned three. Breeding attempts in Belgium will continue: Hao Hao and Xing Hui, the two parents, were loaned to the park 10 years ago for a period of 15 years as part of a larger conservation programme.

The efforts of such programmes have resulted in the giant panda being downgraded from "endangered" to "vulnerable" according to the criteria of the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

At the last count, there were 1,864 giant pandas in the wild in China. There were about 1,200 in the 1980s.