Last 2 giant pandas will leave Japan for China

Dec. 15 (UPI) -- Twin giant pandas will leave a Japanese zoo in late January to go home to China, leaving Japan pandaless.

Xiao Xiao and his sister Lei Lei have been at the Ueno Zoo in Tokyo since their birth in 2021. Their parents, Ri Ri and Shin Shin went back to China in September 2024 and their older sister Xiang Xiang left in February 2023. Four other pandas were returned in June from Adventure World in Shirahama, Wakayama Prefecture.

The Tokyo government is hoping to lease another pair of pandas, but relations with China have chilled since Prime Minister Sanae Takaishi said in November that Japan may have to respond if China were to begin military action in Taiwan.

"I think the panda was a symbol of friendship. Under normal circumstances, I would want to see China loan them [to Japan] again, but I guess it is likely difficult given the current situation," an unnamed woman in her 70s from Chiba Prefecture told Kyodo News.

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The panda leasing program helps further research between the two countries to protect the species.

Xiao Xiao and Lei Lei's lease was to close at the end of February 2026. But the return was rescheduled to late January. The Tokyo government will announce the timeline in the coming weeks.

More than 30 pandas have come to Japan or were born there since 1972, when the two countries established diplomatic relations.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara said at a press conference that these exchanges "have long contributed to improving public sentiment in both Japan and China."