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NAIB Volunteer said:
Yeah, but they'll return to China regardless. I don't understand your point that their return depends on FedEx. Nothing on their return to China will have anything to do with the financial backing of FedEx. They do not hold the exclusive rights to transport the pandas. While they have sponsored or donated transportation services in the past for high profile animals, the Zoo would foot the bill if no donor stepped up to pay for the transfer and would use any number of shipping companies to complete the transfer.
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I understand what he's saying now. Refer to my initial response, he's not saying FedEx has influence on the current pair's return to China, he's saying they have an influence over the species' return to Memphis since they sponsored the species. Their financial backing made it possible, at least in-part, for the zoo to afford the species. While a transporter is relatively easy to replace, a financial backer is not. That is PSO's point and he's correct there, it just wasn't stated clearly in his initial comment.

~Thylo
 
Calvin Stevens said:
I do not think the zoo will put the red pandas in the former panda exhibit but can be proven wrong. They have a pair in cat country and another pair in a recently renovated exhibit behind the langurs in the China exhibit. They can easily move the pair over to where the pandas are but they recently (like within the last year and a half) made the exhibit behind the langurs specifically for red pandas.
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Of course, it doesn't make sense for that species to go there while there are two other exhibits that work just fine nearby. However, the Giant Panda exhibit is small enough that it would suit red pandas without seeming too large. Extravagant, perhaps, but I've seen red panda exhibits of similar sizes before.
 
Cat-Man said:
Has this happened to any other zoos outside China whilst the animals were on loan?
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I’ve found one other case of a 19 year old male who died in Thailand in 2019: Outrage in China as giant panda on loan to Thailand zoo dies

Historically, most loan pandas have returned to China in their teens or early 20’s; in addition to surviving cubs, returning around the age of three or four years.

Bai Yun at San Diego, who returned to China at the age of 27 years, would have been one of the eldest; though the pairs at the National Zoo and Zoo Atlanta are also getting up there in terms of age (24-25 years).
 
Okay so I just recently found a pretty upsetting photo of what is supposedly Le Le before his death, can anyone confirm to me what is actually happening there? Or is that somehow a different panda taken from other zoo?
 
Emanuel Theodorus said:
Okay so I just recently found a pretty upsetting photo of what is supposedly Le Le before his death, can anyone confirm to me what is actually happening there? Or is that somehow a different panda taken from other zoo?
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Without knowing what photo you are looking at it is hard to say.

That said, I have seen some pretty distressing looking photos that were certainly real. Memphis is not known for having animal welfare issues, so I have to lean on their side here.
 
I have seen a lot of articles alleging the panda was a victim of extensive abuse. I would link some but many are from the South China Morning Post, which has come under increased state influence in recent years. Articles quoting them, and quotes in the Economist article previously posted, downplay Lele's heart disease in favor of a conspiratorial claim of abuse, which is now spreading to Ya Ya, who they claim is suffering malnutrition and prolonged caging rather than existing known health issues. Some of these claims are linked to Panda Voices, a group that has sought the pandas' return to China since before Lele's passing. Their website has as many sensationalistic claims about "panda jail time" and such very comparable or worse than what we often mock from animal rights groups.

So I wouldn't trust the authenticity of those photos towards Lele and Memphis, they may be of other pandas elsewhere, unless someone vouches.
 
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Another thing to add to this, Memphis Zoo locked down the reply function to all of their social media accounts because they were getting bombarded with people hating on the zoo because of the death, many from Chinese accounts. Their PR and Socials team has been working under fire now for quite a bit. One look at the replies prior to them locking them down makes it self evident as to why they shut that ability off.
 
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