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Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar today joined Chinese officials at the Smithsonian’s
National Zoological Park to announce that two giant pandas, Mei Xiang and Tian Tian,
will remain at the zoo under a new agreement to support breeding, research and conservation
efforts by the two countries.
The agreement, signed today by Dennis Kelly, Director of the National Zoo and Secretary
General Zang Chunlin of the China Wildlife Conservation Association, extends the Zoo’s
giant panda program for five more years.
The first two years of the agreement include a cooperative study involving reproductive
experts from the China Conservation and Research Center for
the Giant Panda in Wolong and
the Smithsonian’s - Conservation Biology Institute
to oversee the breeding of Mei Xiang and Tian Tian.