China has announced that it will send two giant pandas to Zoo Atlanta, bringing the total number of Chinese pandas in the United States to six.
The move is part of China’s long‑standing practice of “panda diplomacy,” in which the country loans pandas to foreign zoos as a gesture of goodwill and cultural exchange.
Neil Thomas, a senior fellow at the Asia Society’s Center for China Analysis, joined CBS News to explain the history and significance of this diplomatic strategy.
With the arrival of the new pandas, Zoo Atlanta will join other U.S. institutions that host Chinese pandas, expanding the presence of the species across the country.
The addition of the two pandas is expected to reinforce existing cultural ties between China and the United States while drawing public interest to the zoo’s conservation efforts.
<small>Source: CBS News — read the original story there.</small>
