In 2024, for the first time in more than 50 years, there will be no pandas in the United States, after zoos in Atlanta and Washington, D.C., return theirs to China — which has been loaning its pandas to countries for decades.The United States has been engaged in so-called panda diplomacy since 1972, when China gifted two pandas to the National Zoo in Washington, D.C., as a gesture of goodwill during President Richard Nixon’s administration.Since then, zoos across the country have hosted giant pandas for years at a time. But that practice is coming to an end.Did you know? Giant pandas are China’s national animal. Their life expectancy in the wild is about 15 years, but in captivity they have lived to be as old as 38.Tian Tian enjoys the morning rain as dozens of visitors showed up on the first day of "Panda Palooza: A Giant Farewell" at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 23. (The Washington Post via Getty Images)The National Zoo recently announced that its three beloved pandas — Tian Tian, Mei Xiang and Xiao Qi Ji — will be returned to China by Dec. 7, when the zoo's three-year agreement with the China Wildlife Conservation Association ends. The giant pandas have been at the zoo for over 20 years. Usually, the Smithsonian Institution — which operates the National Zoo — renews its panda contracts in order to keep them. But this year officials say such attempts have failed.Zoos in Memphis and San Diego have already returned their pandas to China. And the only other pandas in the country, at Atlanta’s zoo, are set to be returned sometime in the next year.Has this happened to the U.S. before?Ya Ya at the Memphis Zoo. (Xinhua News Agency via Getty Images)Yes. Back in April, Ya Ya, a giant panda that had spent 20 years at the Memphis Zoo, was returned after the zoo's loan agreement ended without renewal.Allegations of neglect against the Memphis Zoo were circulated on Chinese social media, which the zoo emphatically denied.Meanwhile, Ya Ya’s trip home was closely followed online in both the U.S. and China as her fans in both countries tracked her flight from Memphis to Shanghai.“An image from Chinese broadcaster Phoenix News was particularly popular among Chinese social media users,” the Associated Press explained at the time. “It showed Ya Ya relieving herself before the trip and leaving the poop as a present for the zoo.”What about other countries?Fan Xing chews a stick in his indoor enclosure at Ouwehands Zoo in Rhenen, Netherlands. (PIROSCHKA VAN DE WOUW via Getty Images)Several countries around the world have pandas on loan from China, and they are also due to be returned when their agreements expire.Officials in Singapore announced that a giant panda cub named Le Le will be returned to China in December. A farewell event for the 2-year-old Le Le is set for Nov. 20.Similar celebrations were held for Xiang Xiang, a 5-year-old panda who was returned to China from Tokyo's Ueno Zoo in February, and Fan Xing, a 3-year-old panda who was returned to China from a zoo in the Netherlands last month.A giant panda on loan from China died suddenly in a zoo in northern Thailand in April, six months before she was due to return home.In July, two new pandas were born in South Korea, but they are considered the property of China and will soon be returned too.More panda coverage on Yahoo NewsGiant panda Si Hai feeds on bamboo at the Ya'an base of the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda in southwestern China's Sichuan province. (Xinhua News Agency via Getty Images)

Seal - Ouwehands Rhenen

Chinese Light Festival, Ouwehand Zoo - 4th January 2020 | Molly Wilders

but where is Sarah ? by Cees Via Flickr: Sophie Sarah and Scarlett on safari

Wu Wen (武雯) 2017-10-10 by kuromimi64 Via Flickr: Ouwehands Zoo in Rhenen, the Netherlands Female Date of birth: Aug. 11, 2013 Mother: Gong Zhu 公主 Father: Wu Gang 武岗

Deze foto heb ik laatst geschoten in Ouwehands Dierenpark van een Orang-oetan. Lees meer: https://www.shanepictures.com/476229_orang-oetan-in-ouwehands-dierenpark • #shanepictures #ouwehandszoo #ouwehandsdierenpark #zoo #dierentuin #wildlife #dierenpark #zoophotography #ouwehands #rhenen #ouwehandsdierenparkrhenen #panda #photography #animalphotography #ouwehand #zoophoto #animals #animal #dierentuinfotografie #chinalightfestival #ijsbeer #naturephotography #wildlifephotography #nikon #lights #xingya #nl #ijsberen #lightfestival #nederland (bij Ouwehands Dierenpark Rhenen) https://www.instagram.com/p/CClpybugHXd/?igshid=hdi64ojmzgto

Wu Wen (武雯) 2017-10-10 by kuromimi64 Via Flickr: Ouwehands Zoo in Rhenen, the Netherlands Female Date of birth: Aug. 11, 2013 Mother: Gong Zhu 公主 Father: Wu Gang 武岗

Weet goed wat je met je laatste rolo doet ... ? . #ouwehandsdierenpark #dierentuin #dierenpark #dieren #olifant #elephant #zoo #rhenen @ouwehandszoo . Meer foto’s later op www.janwesselbakker.nl (bij Ouwehands Dierenpark Rhenen) https://www.instagram.com/p/B0-4xIoAgyd/?igshid=44p4gwpb33nc

Pelikaan. Ouwehands Dierenpark, Rhenen. https://flic.kr/p/2gTnjb9 July 29, 2019 at 03:30PM

Her Royal Highness Princess Margriet of the Netherlands attended the celebration of the 5-year anniversary of the Onky Donky house of the Onky Donky Foundation in Rhenen on Thursday morning, June 24, located in Ouwehands Zoo.

The Onky Donky Foundation is committed to children from three to twelve years old, who are limited in being a child and does not focus on one limitation or illness. During an 'Onky Donky day' in the specially equipped Onky Donky house, children, the family and possibly supervisors are the most important guests, they are treated as real 'VIPS'. They experience a fully catered day out, including activities, food and drinks and a visit to Ouwehands Zoo.

📷 Royal House of The Nethelands

Daydreaming white lion cub by Foto Martien For centuries rumors of mysterious white lions had been circulating in South Africa. Confirmation of the existence of white lions only came in the twentieth century. White lions were first recorded in 1928 and in the early 1940s. In 1975, two white cubs were seen at Timbavati Game Reserve, adjacent to Krüger National Park in South Africa. They were roughly two weeks old. The discovery was a sensation. The white specimens proved to be male and female. They were named Temba (Zulu for hope) and Tombi (girl). A few months later Temba en Tombi were taken to the National Zoo in Pretoria, South Africa. The 50 white lions currently in zoos worldwide are descendants of Temba and Tombi. White Lions cannot probable survive in the wild due to perceived lack of camouflage. Adult white lions in the wild have never seen. White Lions are not albinos, but rare color mutations of the Krüger subspecies of lion (Panthera leo krugeri). They have a combination of recessive genes which give them a white skin. The genetic condition, leucism, that causes paler colouration akin to that of the white tiger; the condition is similar to melanism, which causes black panthers. The white lion has been perpetuated by selective breeding in zoos around the world. This picture was taken at Ouwehands Dierenpark, zoo in Rhenen, the Netherlands. ________________________ Al eeuwen waren er geruchten over mysterieuze witte leeuwen in Zuid-Afrika. Bevestiging van het bestaan van witte leeuwen kwam pas in de twintigste eeuw. Witte leeuwen werden voor het eerst geregistreerd in 1928 en in 1941/42. In 1975 werden twee witte welpen aangetroffen in het Timbavati Reservaat, grenzend aan het Krüger Nationaal Park in Zuid-Afrika. De welpjes waren ongeveer twee weken oud. De ontdekking was een sensatie. De witte dieren bleken een mannetje en vrouwtje. Ze werden Temba (Zulu voor 'hoop') en Tombi ('meisje') genoemd. Een paar maanden later werden Temba en Tombi opgenomen in de National Zoo in Pretoria, Zuid-Afrika. De 50 witte leeuwen wereldwijd in dierentuinen zijn nakomelingen van Temba en Tombi. De laatste witte leeuw werd in 1994 in het wild gezien. Witte leeuwen kunnen waarschijnlijk in het wild niet overleven door de lichte vacht zonder camouflage. Volwassen witte leeuwen zijn in het wild nog nooit gezien. De witte leeuw is niet een albino, maar een zeldzame kleurmutatie van de Transvaal of Krüger ondersoort van de leeuw (Panthera leo krugeri). De speciale kleurmutatie met een genetische aandoening, leucisme, veroorzaakt een bleke kleuring zoals ook bij de witte tijger. De voorwaarde is enigszins gelijk aan melanisme, die tot zwarte panters leidt. Door selectief te fokken in dierentuinen over de hele wereld zijn deze leeuwen behouden. Deze foto is juni 2013 genomen in Ouwehands Dierenpark in Rhenen. ________________________ All rights reserved. Copyright © Martien Uiterweerd. All my images are protected under international authors copyright laws and may not be downloaded, reproduced, copied, transmitted or manipulated without my written explicit permission. ________________________ . . https://flic.kr/p/2jPF8Un

Squirrel monkeys - Ouwehands Rhenen

Chinese Light Festival, Ouwehand Zoo - 4th January 2020 | Molly Wilders

a there Scarlett.. in the back by Cees Via Flickr: Going on Safari

Wu Wen (武雯) 2017-10-10 by kuromimi64 Via Flickr: Ouwehands Zoo in Rhenen, the Netherlands Female Date of birth: Aug. 11, 2013 Mother: Gong Zhu 公主 Father: Wu Gang 武岗

I went to the zoo Ouwehands in Rhenen with my parents and my husband yesterday. This is part one of the random pictures ^_^