China owns almost all the animals, including those born abroad to parents lent for a fee to foreign zoos. At the Chongqing Zoo, Xin Xing lived a seemingly untroubled life, lounging in a bear-size pool in the summer and eating seven meals a day. Her caretaker of 28 years, Zhang Naicheng, told China Daily in August, “When she was younger, she ate faster and much more than other pandas.”The panda was also prone to temper tantrums when she was young, he told the China News Service in 2018. “Xin Xing was pretty hotheaded back then,” he said. Xin Xing celebrated the Chinese lunar New Year with four wobbly-footed cubs, including two great-granddaughters, Xi Xi and Qing Qing, at the Chongqing Zoo.

Source: New York Times December 23, 2020 06:20 UTC