Ling-Ling (, 1969–92) and Hsing-Hsing (, 1970–99) were two giant pandas given to the United States as gifts by the government of China following President

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...

visit Visit refer as go to see and spend time with socially. Visit may refer to: *State visit, a formal visit by a head of state to a foreign country *Conjugal visit, in which a prisoner is permitted to spend several hours or days in private with a visit ...

in 1972. As a gift, the U.S. government sent China a pair of

musk oxen Musk ( Persian: مشک, ''Mushk'') is a class of aromatic substances commonly used as base notes in perfumery. They include glandular secretions from animals such as the musk deer, numerous plants emitting similar fragrances, and artificial sub ...

. The pandas had been captured in the wild in June and December 1971. When the Nixons had a dinner with Chinese Premier

Zhou Enlai Zhou Enlai (; 5 March 1898 – 8 January 1976) was a Chinese statesman and military officer who served as the first premier of the People's Republic of China from 1 October 1949 until his death on 8 January 1976. Zhou served under Chairman Ma ...

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

during the 1972 visit, First Lady

Pat Nixon Thelma Catherine "Pat" Nixon (''née'' Ryan; March 16, 1912 – June 22, 1993) was First Lady of the United States from 1969 to 1974 as the wife of President Richard Nixon. She also served as Second Lady of the United States from 1953 to 1961 wh ...

mentioned her fondness for the species, which Zhou replied, "I'll give you some." They arrived at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C., on April 16, 1972, and were formally received several days later, on April 20, at a ceremony attended by Pat Nixon. While at the zoo, they attracted millions of visitors each year. During their time at the National Zoo, the pair had five cubs between 1983 and 1989, but none of them survived past a few days. Ling-Ling died suddenly from heart failure on December 30, 1992, at which time she was the longest-lived giant panda in captivity outside China. Hsing-Hsing would go on to pass her record when he was euthanized by zookeepers on November 28, 1999, at the age of 28 due to

kidney failure Kidney failure, also known as end-stage kidney disease, is a medical condition in which the kidneys can no longer adequately filter waste products from the blood, functioning at less than 15% of normal levels. Kidney failure is classified as eit ...

. Following Hsing-Hsing's death, the zoo received thousands of letters and cards from people across the country expressing sympathy. The Panda House at the National Zoo remained empty for over a year until the arrival of Mei Xiang and Tian Tian from the Wolong Research and Conservation Center for the Giant Panda in December 2000.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ling-Ling And Hsing-Hsing Individual giant pandas 1969 animal births Hsing-Hsing 1992 animal deaths Hsing-Hsing National Zoological Park (United States) Animals as diplomatic gifts China–United States relations Presidency of Richard Nixon

See also

References