The Business of Pandas

In the middle of the debate over whether Taiwan should accept China's "generous" offer of pandas, it should be pointed out that American zoos are having a bit of buyer's remorse when it comes to theirs:

Lun Lun and Yang Yang have needs.  They require an expensive all-vegetarian diet.  They are attended by a four-person entourage, and both crave privacy.

...A six person crew travels around [Georgia] six days a week, harvesting bamboo from 400 volunteers who grow it in their backyards for the zoo to provide their pandas' daily needs.  (Zoo Atlanta tried growing its own on a farm, as the Memphis Zoo does, but Lun Lun and Yang Yang turned up their noses.)

Picky little buggers, aren't they?

...their care runs five times what it costs to board the next most expensive animal - an elephant.

One more time with that one: They're FIVE TIMES more expensive to keep than ELEPHANTS.

...But the real sticker shock comes from the fees [they] must pay the Chinese government: $2 million a year to rent a pair of pandas....If cubs are born, the annual fee increases by an average of $600,000.

Because of the costly loan obligations, [the Atlanta, Washington, San Diego and Memphis zoos have joined together] - to negotiate some budgetary breathing room...."If we can't renegotiate, they absolutely will go back," [said the chief executive of the Atlanta Zoo].  "Unless there are significant renegotiations, you'll see far fewer pandas in the United States at the end of this current agreement."

Pandas are a big draw.  At first, anyways.  But:

...after the first year, crowds dwindle, while the expenses remain high..."Year three is [the] break-even year," [said the director of the Memphis Zoo.]

..."After that, attendance drops off, and you start losing vast amounts of money.  There is a resurgence in attendance when babies are born."

(From "Costly zoo strategy: Pandas as loss leader" from the Feb 13th edition of the International Herald Tribune.  Sorry, no link is available.)

I'm unaware of what the lease arrangements for the pandas offered to Taiwan are.  But whether they're more favorable or not, my argument against accepting the pandas has always been legal.

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UPDATE (Mar 23/06):  The Taipei Times has the same story that was cited in this post.

In the middle of the debate over whether Taiwan should accept China's "generous" offer of pandas, it should be pointed out that American zoos are having a bit of buyer's remorse when it comes to theirs:

Lun Lun and Yang Yang have needs.  They require an expensive all-vegetarian diet.  They are attended by a four-person entourage, and both crave privacy.

...A six person crew travels around [Georgia] six days a week, harvesting bamboo from 400 volunteers who grow it in their backyards for the zoo to provide their pandas' daily needs.  (Zoo Atlanta tried growing its own on a farm, as the Memphis Zoo does, but Lun Lun and Yang Yang turned up their noses.)

Picky little buggers, aren't they?

...their care runs five times what it costs to board the next most expensive animal - an elephant.

...But the real sticker shock comes from the fees [they] must pay the Chinese government: $2 million a year to rent a pair of pandas....If cubs are born, the annual fee increases by an average of $600,000.

Because of the costly loan obligations, [the Atlanta, Washington, San Diego and Memphis zoos have joined together] - to negotiate some budgetary breathing room...."If we can't renegotiate, they absolutely will go back," [said the chief executive of the Atlanta Zoo].  "Unless there are significant renegotiations, you'll see far fewer pandas in the United States at the end of this current agreement."

Pandas are a big draw.  At first, anyways.  But:

...after the first year, crowds dwindle, while the expenses remain high..."Year three is [the] break-even year," [said the director of the Memphis Zoo.]

..."After that, attendance drops off, and you start losing vast amounts of money.  There is a resurgence in attendance when babies are born."

(From "Costly zoo strategy: Pandas as loss leader" from the Feb 13th edition of the International Herald Tribune.  Sorry, no link is available.)

I'm unaware of what the lease arrangements for the pandas offered to Taiwan are.  But whether they're more favorable or not, my argument against accepting the pandas has always been legal.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

UPDATE (Mar 23/06):  The Taipei Times has the same story that was cited in this post.