We’re Not In Kansas Anymore!?

Two pandas born in the United States start their new lives in China

STAGE FRIGHT: Tai Shan hides behind bamboo when he arrives in China on February 5

By YUAN YUAN

Chinese pandas have long been sent to the other countries as goodwill ambassadors, but in the beginning of February the story was reversed and China welcomed two pandas that were born overseas. They were born in the United States and China is a strange, foreign land.

Tai Shan, a four-and-a-half-year-old male, and Mei Lan, a three-year-old female,arrived in Sichuan Province on February 5.Mei Lan settled into her new home at the Research Base for Giant Panda Breeding in Chengdu, capital of Sichuan Province.Tai Shan arrived at the Ya’an Bifeng Gorge Breeding Base at the Wolong National Nature Reserve, another panda breeding center in Sichuan.

Netizens are calling the two pandas“overseas returnees,” an expression that is also used to describe Chinese humans coming back to their motherland after living in foreign countries.

“Mei Lan has been living in the United States since she was born, and she needs some time to adapt to the new environment in China,” said Huang Xiangming, director of the animal management department at Mei Lan’s new Chengdu home. The animal was living at Zoo Atlanta since she was born in September 2006.

Huang said Mei Lan does not yet feel at home as she has been jumping around, roaring when she sees people and is not interested in eating. Communication is another problem.

“Mei Lan can’t understand Chinese, not to mention the Sichuan dialect,” said Huang,who also revealed that they are finding a Chinese language teacher for Mei Lan, as well as an exclusive keeper to help her more quickly adapt to her new life.

In contrast to Mei Lan, Tai Shan seems to be adapting well to life at his new home.“He is in a good mood and he is eating well,”said Tang Chunxiang, Deputy Director of the Panda Research Center at the Wolong National Nature Reserve. “But we still need to keep an eye on him to ensure that he is in stable condition after his long trip from the United States.”

Tai Shan was supposed to come to China at the age of two, but the Chinese Government agreed to postpone his return twice in 2007 and 2009 at the request of the U.S. National Zoo in Washington, D.C.,where he was born and raised.

Tang said a team of panda keepers,including zoologists, veterinarians and nutritionists, were trained to care for Tai Shan before he came to China. They prepared a variety of fresh bamboo for him to choose.They are also capable of speaking English to communicate with the American specialists who have accompanied Tai Shan to China.

Two days before Tai Shan arrived, the Sichuan Auto Industry Group signed an adoption deal with the Ya’an Bifeng Gorge Breeding Base. The company paid 400,000 yuan ($58,570) for the adoption.

At Mei Lan’s Chengdu home, staff are asking the public to choose a “boyfriend” for her since she has reached mating age.

“We have created Web pages on popular Internet portals to post images and introduce Mei Lan and a number of male pandas. We are inviting panda fans to vote for the best boyfriend for Mei Lan according to their physical appearance, character,living habits and experts’ suggestions on the match,” he said.

Meanwhile, Mei Lan’s diet habits are going to gradually change.

“We have asked the American zookeepers to bring Mei Lan’s favorite biscuits,but we will gradually use Chinese wotou (a steamed bread of corn, sorghum and other ingredients) and fresh bamboo to replace the biscuits,” Huang said.

Mei Lan will be quarantined for a certain period just like all other pandas that arrive from foreign countries, he said.

According to agreements reached between Chinese and American authorities,giant pandas are only loaned to the United States for scienti fi c studies. Mei Lan and Tai Shan’s parents, and all their cubs, must be returned to China. Mei Lan’s parents, Lun Lun and Yang Yang, and Tai Shan’s parents, Mei Xiang and Tian Tian, arrived in the United States in the 1990s and are supposed to come back to China in December 2010. ■

Mei Lan can’t understand Chinese,not to mention the Sichuan dialect