It was a dramatic week for panda lovers in Washington, D.C.: we were thrilled when Mei Xiang gave birth to a baby panda last Sunday night, and were then heartbroken for her loss this past Sunday, September 23, 2012.
I started drafting this post on the laws and agreements that would affect the baby panda’s childhood soon after its birth. If she had lived, the cub would have stayed with us here in Washington until she was four years old, if no extension was made to this time, according to the Giant Panda Cooperative Research and Breeding Agreement signed by the National Zoo and the China Wildlife Conservation Association in 2011. As we know, her elder brother, Tai Shan, was sent to China in early 2010 per the terms of the former agreement.
Currently, giant pandas may be taken out of China only through such