Why this Japanese zoo was forced to return its pandas to China: Inside China’s panda loan policy

For over 30 years, 'Panda Love’ has been the big crowd puller at Adventure World in Shirahama, Wakayama prefecture, Japan. Until recently, the exhibition facility was home to four giant pandas - all of them born and bred at the conservation park: Rauhin, a 24-year-old female and her three daughters, Yuihin (8), Saihin (6), and Fuhin (4).

Pandas as ‘goodwill ambassadors’

While technically speaking, Shirahama has always been their home, the pandas actually belong to China, under their Panda Diplomacy policy which was launched in 1984 as a way of building diplomatic ties with other countries and promoting wildlife conservation.

The first giant pandas arrived at Adventure World in the late 80s as part of a breeding research project. The program has been hugely successful in Shirahama where 17 giant pandas have been bred - the highest number in captivity outside of mainland China.

Under the agreement, the pandas, which are native to China, are now leased rather than gifted, as they were in the past. Several countries, including the former Soviet Union, United States, Korea, Great Britain, Spain and France were given pandas to keep prior to 1984 when the policy was changed due to concern over dwindling numbers.

Pandas are usually sent in pairs on a 10-year lease arrangement, at the end of which, they are returned to China along with any offspring born overseas.

There is also annual fee of roughly around $1 million for the upkeep of a male-female pair. While pandas may be cute as hell, they are also very expensive to look after.

China’s Panda Diplomacy isn’t just about extending a hand of friendship to other countries. Agreements usually tie in with the signing of a free-trade agreement (FTA) or similar cooperative treaties.

Giant pandas are classified as a vulnerable species rather than endangered. It’s difficult to calculate exactly how many pandas exist in the wild but a recent census puts the figure at just under 2,000 - almost double the figure reported in the 1970s.

As for pandas in captivity, there are 728 pandas in zoos and breeding centers around the world.

Adventure World’s Giant pandas begin new life in China

Rauhin, who will turn the ripe old age of 25 in September (the equivalent of 72 in human years), returned home to China with her three daughters on Saturday 28 June. It was a sad day for the 1,400 visitors who turned up at Adventure World to wave them off and bid them farewell.

Shirahama is a different place without its furry friends - just two giant pandas remain in Japan... for now. Xiao Xiao and Lei Lei, two four-year-old cubs are still frolicking around at Ueno Zoological Gardens in Tokyo but they too are under lease and the deadline for their return is February 2026. Government officials are hopeful that they will be granted an extension to keep their pandas a little longer.

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