Almost here …
As I write this, FedEx Panda Express is less than two hours from its destination at Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport. On board are two VIPs (very important pandas) – Tai Shan, a 4½ year old giant panda male sub-adult from the National Zoo, Washington, DC, and Mei Lan, a 3½ year old giant panda female sub-adult from Zoo Atlanta in Georgia.
Mei Lan’s final destination is the Chengdu Panda Breeding Centre, while Tai Shan’s another 2½ hours away at the Bifengxia Panda Base.
Both were born in the United States, but under the panda loan agreements signed by their respective zoos, they have to return to China after they turned 2. Tai Shan’s already had his time in the States extended by 2 years, and Mei Lan’s was possibly delayed by the May 12 earthquake in 2008.
For me, their return to China is actually good news as they will be closer to me and easier for me to visit. We are now in the same continent (hence the title of this blog post, because they’re almost here … well, okay, they’re already in Asian air space, but I digress).
For my panda pals in the States, especially the ones in the DC area, it’s a different story. Many of them have known Tai Shan since the day he was born, and some of them have visited the zoo almost every weekend, and possibly public holidays, to see him and his parents. With his return, many of them will never see him again.
The farewells began in early January, with a 4½ birthday party for Tai Shan on 9 January (he was born on 9 July 2005), and officially ended with another party on 30 January. It was on that day, or maybe a day earlier, that the Zoo announced his departure date. It was only 4 days away! The Zoo also announced his last public viewing day would be Wednesday, 3 February. Many of my friends made it a point to visit him as much as possible on those remaining days.
The travel itinerary included flying FedEx Panda Express to Atlanta, Georgia, to pick up Mei Lan, and then continuing to Washington, DC, to pick up Tai Shan.
Due to his immense celebrity status in the DC area, the Washington Post provided “live” online coverage of the departure from the Zoo, which included a police escort to the airport. I hadn’t planned on watching, but I did. I was also “chatting” with my panda pals on the Pandas Unlimited forum. Pandas Unlimited, which was started in 2006 on the Flickr site to share all things pandas, has evolved to become Tai Shan’s fan club.
I started watching after he’d been moved into his transport carrier. But I saw the carrier being loaded on the FedEx truck and the truck driving off to go to Dulles International Airport. There were close-ups of him in the transport carrier, and I was impressed by how calm he was. The National Zoo’s panda team had trained him well. Of course, it also helped that there were lots of treats to keep him occupied. Food is always so comforting, especially when you’re travelling.
With the FedEx truck pulling out of the Zoo, the Washington Post “live” coverage ended but picked up about 45 minutes later at the airport. By now, one of the PU members had discovered that CNN was also covering the departure from the airport “live” on its website. I continued watching on CNN for the rest of the “live” coverage.
Emotions ran very high on the PU forum. Many of my pals were distraught over his departure, and were comforted that the forum provided a place with others who understood and did not laugh at them.
I found myself affected by the coverage and the discussion on the forum. It really was so emotional. Even after the plane took off (the moment the front wheels lifted off the ground will always remain in my mind), my pals hung around to chat and share about their memories of Tai Shan. Then someone posted that they saw in an online news article that we’d lost the adoption bid for Tai Shan.
Soon after the announcement that Tai Shan would be leaving for China, the group had decided to adopt him through Pandas International. In less than a week, group members had donated sufficient funds for a one-year exclusive adoption (US$5,000/-). By the time of his departure yesterday, the group had raised more than US$15,000/- for three years’ exclusive adoption. The group admin team has been talking to Pandas International on the possibility of a lifetime adoption (US$50,000/-) and seeking a timeline to complete the collection of the necessary funds. But always, at the back of our minds, we knew a big corporation can adopt him for life. And now one has.
So on top of his departure, here was the disappointment that we wouldn’t get to adopt Tai Shan. Fortunately, there’s a Plan B. The funds collected will be used towards some form of enrichment for Tai Shan at his new home.
And now the plane’s about an hour away from Chengdu. I’m getting goosebumps on my arms!
