Latest news with #Rauhin
The Mainichi
26-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Mainichi
Crowds flock to see 4 pandas at west Japan zoo before China return
SHIRAHAMA, Wakayama -- Many people including families visited a zoo in this western Japan town to see four adorable giant pandas on May 25, the last day of their outdoor display ahead of their return to China. At Adventure World amusement park, the four pandas have entered a one-month quarantine period before their return, and from May 26 they are only viewable through glass. Their return to China is scheduled for June 28. On May 25, 24-year-old Rauhin and 6-year-old Saihin were seen roaming around, with fans eagerly following them to capture photos and videos. Satomi Motooka, a 63-year-old public servant from Kobe, said, "My daughter's influence has led me to watch panda growth videos daily. Even with the display through glass, I want to come as often as possible." (Japanese original by Koji Osawa, Tanabe Local Bureau)
23-05-2025
Giant Pandas at Western Japan Zoo to Be Sent to China June 28
News from Japan May 23, 2025 16:36 (JST) Wakayama, May 23 (Jiji Press)--All four giant pandas at a zoo in Adventure World in Shirahama, Wakayama Prefecture, western Japan, will be transferred to China on June 28, the leisure facility said Friday. Adventure World is home to 24-year-old Rauhin and her three daughters--8-year-old Yuihin, 6-year-old Saihin and 4-year-old Fuhin. All four will be quarantined for a month from Monday. Visitors will be able to see the pandas through glass until June 27, when a farewell party will be held. Adventure World announced in April that all its pandas would be transferred to China around the end of June as its contract with the Chinese side ends in August. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.] Jiji Press
28-04-2025
- Entertainment
Panda Parting: Iconic Animals Returning to China from Japanese Zoos
On April 24, the theme park Adventure World in Shirahama, Wakayama, announced that all four of its giant pandas will return to China around the end of June. The animals' loan agreement expires at the end of August, but the park authorities decided that it would be better if they return before the hot weather of high summer. Adventure World has garnered worldwide attention for its successful panda breeding program, which began in 1994. Eimei (male), born in 1992, came to Japan at the age of two and from 2001 onward successfully bred around once every two years, producing 16 offspring. Of these, 13 have already returned to China and Eimei himself went back in 2023 before dying of illness in January 2024. The four pandas returning in June are Eimei's former partner Rauhin (female), and their three children, Yuihin, Saihin, and Fūhin (all females). After they return, Adventure World will have no more pandas. From July, there will be only two pandas left in Japan: the twins Lei Lei (female) and Xiao Xiao (male) at Ueno Zoo in Tokyo. However, their loan agreement will expire on February 20, 2026, meaning Japan may soon find itself panda-less. Rauhin with two cubs at Adventure World in May 2015 (© Jiji) (Translated from Japanese. Banner photo: Rauhin with her cub Yuihin. © Pixta.)
Asahi Shimbun
25-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Asahi Shimbun
4 pandas at Wakayama zoo will be returned to China in June
SHIRAHAMA, Wakayama Prefecture—Fans of the four remaining giant pandas at Adventure World here and local businesses are bracing for their return to the China at the end of June, which the park announced on April 24. Officials of the theme park which includes a zoo, aquarium and amusement park, explained that the lease agreement for the hugely popular attractions is expiring. After the four pandas leave for China, only two giant pandas will remain in Japan, at Tokyo's Ueno Zoological Gardens. Adventure World joined a Japan-China giant panda conservation joint project in 1994, and has raised 20 pandas since then. Of those 20, three came from China and the other 17 were born at Adventure World. Currently, a 24-year-old female panda named Rauhin and her daughters, Yuihin, 8, Saihin, 6, and Fuhin, 4, live together in the park. China owns all giant pandas, including those born in Japan. According to the Adventure World, the conservation project period will end in August, and the four pandas will be returned to China at the end of June to avoid the extreme summer heat in Japan. The park will talk to China about leasing other pandas in the future. 'We hope to build on our 30 years of experience and knowledge,' Koji Imazu, the park's director, told reporters. Meanwhile, the lease agreement of the two pandas being raised in Tokyo's Ueno Zoological Gardens will expire on Feb. 20, 2026. DIRECTOR APPRECIATES PANDAS' ROLE Upon learning that all four would be returned to China, many people in the town expressed hope that pandas would return to the zoo. 'I hope the pandas will relax in China, where there are excellent facilities and staff,' Imazu said and praised Rauhin for mothering many cubs at Adventure World. Of Rauhin's three children, who will return to China with their mother, Imazu said, 'We hope that they will also be part of the breeding program.' Adventure World is hoping to lease other pandas and is in negotiations with China. Pandas are one of the big draws of the town. 'If the pandas are all gone, we'll definitely feel the impact. Shirahama Station is even sometimes called 'Panda Station.' We really need pandas, even if it's just one,' said the owner of a souvenir shop that sells panda stuffed animals in front of Shirahama Station. The Chinese government used to give pandas at crucial moments of diplomacy. In 1972, the country gifted two giant pandas named Kang Kang and Lan Lan to Tokyo's Ueno Zoological Gardens to commemorate the restoration of diplomatic ties between the two countries. Since 1984, China has focused more on the conservation of the species, and began leasing pandas to zoos in foreign countries for breeding research rather than giving them outright. According to the leasing agreements, China retains ownership of all pandas, even those born in Japan. So, Japan must return them to China when the leases expire. Currently, there are two giant pandas in Tokyo's Ueno Zoological Gardens, which has raised 15 pandas. The two pandas, a male named Xiao Xiao and a female named Lei Lei, are twins born at the zoo in June 2021. Their lease will expire in February 2026, so the Tokyo metropolitan government will seek another pair from China. 'We will make arrangements, including the possibility of leasing other pandas after returning the two,' said a Tokyo metropolitan official. Kobe municipal Oji Zoo also had raised giant pandas. However, since the death of Tan Tan last year, who was the oldest panda in Japan, there have been no pandas in the zoo. The city also expressed its intention of requesting other pandas. (This article was written by Shinichi Katsube, Naoaki Terasawa and Masato Tainaka.)
Japan Times
25-04-2025
- Japan Times
All 4 giant pandas at western Japan zoo to be sent to China
All four giant pandas at a zoo in Adventure World in Wakayama Prefecture will be transferred to China around the end of June, the leisure facility said Thursday. If the four pandas go to China under the terms of a loan agreement and no new additions join the zoo, Xiao Xiao and Lei Lei at Tokyo's Ueno Zoo would be the only remaining giant pandas housed in Japan. Adventure World is home to 24-year-old female Rauhin and her three daughters — 8-year-old Yuihin, 6-year-old Saihin and 4-year-old Fuhin. All four were born at Adventure World. Rauhin became the first giant panda born at the facility back in September 2000. With a contract between the facility and the Chinese side ending in August this year, the two sides decided that the four pandas will go to China in June, when temperatures are relatively cool, the facility said. Adventure World did not say whether the Chinese side would newly send over giant pandas to the zoo. According to the leisure facility, experts from China said that it would be better for aging Rauhin to go to China to live in a dedicated facility with medical care. Rauhin's daughters will be sent to China to find a mate for future breeding opportunities. The four pandas will live at the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding in the inland province of Sichuan. All giant pandas living in Japan are loaned by China for breeding research purposes. China legally owns all such animals, including those born at Japanese zoos. Noting that the facility marked the 30th anniversary of its Japan-China Joint Research on Giant Panda Breeding program in September last year, Adventure World said, "We'll continue discussions with the Chinese side as we strongly hope for a continuation of the project."
