The panda was initially set to move to China in 2021

Tokyo:

Hundreds of Japanese followers on Sunday bade farewell to 4 beloved pandas which will probably be returned to China this week, with some guests shedding tears.

Guests flocked to Tokyo’s Ueno Zoo to catch a final glimpse of Xiang Xiang, who has been an enormous draw for the park since her start in 2017, and to a park in western Wakayama area for the opposite three pandas.

In Tokyo, the ultimate viewing of Xiang Xiang, the zoo’s first child panda since 1988, was restricted to 2,600 guests who received a fortunate lottery ticket, however some followers who didn’t win nonetheless got here.

“I wished to breathe the identical air,” as Xiang Xiang, Mari Asai advised the Asahi Shimbun day by day.

“Even when I can not see her, my coronary heart is full of pleasure realizing she’s there,” the 48-year-old mentioned.

One other customer advised native media, crying, that she wished to be nearer to the five-year-old panda.

“Every little thing about her is lovable, whether or not sleeping or awake,” she mentioned.

Ueno Zoo receives calls and emails day-after-day from panda followers asking it to maintain Xiang Xiang, the Tokyo Shimbun day by day reported, citing a zoo official.

The panda was initially set to move to China in 2021 however its departure was postponed a number of instances attributable to journey restrictions linked to the pandemic.

In Wakayama, guests got here to say goodbye to Eimei, which grew to become the world’s oldest to father a child panda in 2020 at age 28, the equal of being in his 80s for a human, in addition to his twin daughters.

“Everyone seems to be so cute I virtually cried,” a lady in her 70s advised public broadcaster NHK.

“I am unhappy they are going again to China.”

The black and white mammals are immensely common world wide and China loans them out as a part of a “panda diplomacy” programme to foster international ties.

There are an estimated 1,860 large pandas left within the wild, primarily in bamboo forests within the mountains of China, in response to environmental group WWF.

There are about 600 in captivity in panda centres, zoos and wildlife parks world wide.