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Yomiuri Shimbun photos Left: Ri Ri at Ueno Zoo on Aug. 31 Right: Shin Shin at Ueno Zoo on Aug. 31
By Atsushi Ueda / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer
1:00 JST, September 28, 2024
The last day visitors can see giant panda pair Ri Ri and Shin Shin at Ueno Zoological Gardens in Taito Ward, Tokyo, is Saturday. Then they will be returned to China on Sunday.
The two 19-year-old pandas arrived at the zoo, commonly known as Ueno Zoo, in 2011. The first panda cub born to the pair died shortly after its birth. However, the pandas produced three more cubs and raised them healthily. The two pandas have helped attract visitors to the zoo for 13½ years and many fans and zoo officials expressed their gratitude to the panda pair.
The Yomiuri Shimbun Many visitors wait in line to see the two giant pandas on Sept. 19 before the pair is returned to China.
Since their return to China was announced on Aug. 30, many fans have been visiting the zoo every day, waiting in line in front of the panda house for three hours, even on weekdays.
The zoo is currently holding an exhibit looking back at the memories of the two pandas, as well as requesting messages from fans and displaying them on its website. For Saturday, the final 30-minute time slot to view the pair from 3 p.m. is reserved for lottery winners. While 200 visitors were selected through the lottery system, 12,212 people applied for the lottery, which means only one in roughly 60 applicants were successful.
“It was memorable that we were able to view the pandas before they were returned. I hope they will be fine and get along after going back to China,” a 32-year-old company employee from Nagoya said on Sept. 19. His 6-year-old eldest daughter said, “They laid down and looked so cute.”
At JR Ueno Station, the nearest station to the zoo, there is an electronic signboard that says, “Stay well and healthy forever.” Keisei Electric Railway Co. is selling commemorative train tickets designed with photos of them while the Matsuzakaya Ueno department store near the zoo is selling cakes featuring the two pandas. The entire area near the zoo is filled with an atmosphere of farewell.
First cub’s death
Both pandas were born in 2005 in China’s Sichuan Province. They arrived at Ueno Zoo in February 2011. There had been no panda at the zoo since Ling Ling died three years earlier.
Ri Ri has a calm character while Shin Shin has a cute and round face, and the pair got along with each other well. In July 2012, Shin Shin gave birth to the pair’s first cub. It was the first successful event of natural mating at the zoo. However, the cub died six days after birth despite around-the-clock care.
Breeding pandas is difficult because they have a short period of heat, and female pandas are only able to conceive for a few days a year. Shin Shin even stopped going into heat. Pandas tend to be solitary and if the two pandas live in the same place while not in heat, they might stop getting along.
Zoo officials waited nearly four years for the perfect timing. In February 2017, Shin Shin showed signs of estrus, such as distinct mating calls. Toshimitsu Doi, 73, director of the zoo at that time, and other officials had Shin Shin meet Ri Ri from separate pens and shortened the distance between the two pandas little by little. Finally, they successfully mated, and in June 2017, female panda Xiang Xiang was born.
In June 2021, twin pandas Xiao Xiao and Lei Lei were born. Ueno, then dampened by the COVID-19 pandemic, was crowded with people hoping to see the pandas. “Ri Ri and Shin Shin have overcome sorrow and difficulties with the zoo staff and made many people happy,” Doi recalled.
Last years in home country
In human years, the two giant pandas would be around 60 years old. Ri Ri has been throwing up repeatedly since 2022, and both pandas have been showing symptoms of high blood pressure since September 2023.
China has ownership of the pair, and their loan period will expire in February 2026. However, the Tokyo metropolitan government consulted with experts in China and concluded that it would be better for the two pandas to be treated in the environment where they were born and raised. So, the schedule to return them had been moved up.
After making their last public appearance on Saturday, the two pandas will depart the zoo by truck on Sunday and head for a panda protection facility in Sichuan Province on a chartered flight from Narita Airport.
“I would like to express my gratitude for Ri Ri and Shin Shin that raised three panda cubs. I sincerely hope that they will be fine forever after returning to China,” said Yutaka Fukuda, the director of the zoo.
Remaining twin pandas
Xiang Xiang was returned to China in February 2023 because she needed to find a mate. After Ri Ri and Shin Shin are returned to China, the only remaining pandas at Ueno Zoo will be twins Xiao Xiao and Lei Lei.
Ri Ri and Shin Shin were loaned from China as part of a Japan-China joint breeding and research project, and China has ownership of the two pandas and their cubs. The loan period for the twin pandas will expire on Feb. 20, 2026. “It is important to make efforts to preserve wild animals. We would like to continue the project,” said Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike, indicating that she would be happy to accept new pandas.
