A giant panda couple, Ri Ri and Shin Shin, who have been on loan to Japan since 2011, will be returned to China on September 29 for medical treatment. The Tokyo metropolitan government announced that the pandas, both aged 19, are considered to be reaching old age for their species. Since September 2023, they have been receiving medication for high blood pressure. Ri Ri has also experienced occasional vomiting since 2022, but experts have been unable to determine the cause.
The public will have one last chance to view the pandas on September 28 before they are sent back to their home country. Ri Ri and Shin Shin were born at a giant panda reserve in Sichuan Province in southwestern China and came to Japan under a lease agreement that was later extended. Although their loan is set to expire in February 2026, both Japan and China agree that it is best for them to return home for treatment before their health deteriorates further.
Ri Ri and Shin Shin are the parents of Xiang Xiang, who was returned to China in 2023. They also have twins named Xiao Xiao and Lei Lei who were born in June 2021. The twins will remain at Ueno Zoological Gardens as they are currently the only pandas at the zoo.
It is worth noting that Ueno Zoo received its first pandas from China in 1972 as a symbol of bilateral ties between the two countries.
© KYODO