{"id":214359,"date":"2025-12-28T09:41:08","date_gmt":"2025-12-28T09:41:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/214359\/"},"modified":"2025-12-28T09:41:08","modified_gmt":"2025-12-28T09:41:08","slug":"dublin-zoo-distressed-as-pandas-death-on-return-to-china-linked-in-report-to-irish-stay-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/214359\/","title":{"rendered":"Dublin Zoo \u2018distressed\u2019 as panda\u2019s death on return to China linked in report to Irish stay \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

The loan of two giant pandas from China<\/a> to Dublin Zoo<\/a> in 1986 was hailed a great success \u2013 until one of the pandas died some time after returning to China.<\/p>\n

Ming Ming and Ping Ping spent 100 days at Dublin Zoo from June to September 1986. The visit attracted much media attention and many visitors. It was estimated that around 400,000 people came to see them.<\/p>\n

Two years later, there was a sad end to the story. In August 1988, Irish officials found out that Ping Ping died after his return to Chengdu, records in the latest release of State Papers<\/a> show.<\/p>\n

Staff at Dublin Zoo were \u201cdistressed\u201d to find out there was a \u201csuggestion that his death was a consequence of visit here\u201d, one file notes.<\/p>\n

The visit happened after months of planning between Irish and Chinese officials.<\/p>\n

Dick Spring, who was t\u00e1naiste and Labour Party leader at the time, launched the visit to much fanfare on June 16th, 1986. Media reports noted that apes at the zoo starting to shout as Mr Spring spoke, prompting him to quip that they were \u201cprobably Fianna F\u00e1il supporters\u201d.<\/p>\n

Hundreds of thousands of people flocked to see the pandas during their three-month stay in Dublin. <\/p>\n

One of the few hiccups along the way was a mooted visit by one of the pandas to RT\u00c9 \u2013 a plan that was scrapped amid concerns for the welfare of the animal.<\/p>\n

\"PandaPanda cubs Pit and Paule of Berlin’s Zoologischer Garten. Photograph: Odd Andersen\/AFP <\/p>\n

In correspondence sent in September 1986, officials in Dublin Zoo and the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) discussed the possibility of extending the insurance for the trip to cover one of the pandas appearing live on The Late Late Show. Chinese authorities expressed \u201cconsiderable reluctance\u201d about the request, noting that \u201cbrightly lit and hot television studios are not the most favourable panda environment\u201d, according to the documents. They also asked why a videotape recorded at the zoo could not be shown on RT\u00c9 instead. Ultimately, the trip to Montrose never happened. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe director fully understands the concerns expressed by the Chinese authorities and plans for The Late Late Show appearance have been dropped,\u201d one document noted.<\/p>\n

Overall, the pandas\u2019 visit to Dublin Zoo was deemed a big success. At a closing ceremony on September 20th, 1986, Liam Kavanagh, the minister for tourism, said it \u201chas been a major boost to both the zoo and the Irish public\u201d. <\/p>\n

[\u00a0Troy the parrot: Dublin Zoo name bird after Republic of Ireland\u2019s hat-trick heroOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

\u201cI would like to commend the zoo authorities on their vision in bringing such fascinating animals to our attention and giving us all this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see Ping Ping and Ming Ming,\u201d Mr Kavanagh said.<\/p>\n

He told the crowd that the visit was \u201ca significant coup\u201d and one of the most memorable moments in the zoo\u2019s then 156-year history.<\/p>\n

\u201cBy all accounts, the two pandas settled in very well here during their 100 days and they appear to be in good shape for their return journey tomorrow. In their relatively short time with us they have given great enjoyment to thousands of people,\u201d the minister said.<\/p>\n

However, one of the final documents released about the visit said Ping Ping, the male panda, died some time after returning home. A DFA document dated August 17th 1988 \u2013 nearly two years after the pandas left Ireland \u2013 stated that officials at Dublin Zoo had informed the department of Ping Ping\u2019s death.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey have read a report that he is dead and that there is a suggestion that his death was a consequence of [the pandas\u2019] visit here. They are somewhat distressed and have asked if [the] embassy could obtain a copy of the postmortem report and forward it to them via DFA.\u201d<\/p>\n

Department officials were attempting to find out more information about the death, a note from August 19th stated.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The loan of two giant pandas from China to Dublin Zoo in 1986 was hailed a great success…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":214360,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[114,74259,42,23061,43,6085,110823,40,38,41,39],"class_list":{"0":"post-214359","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-china","9":"tag-dublin-zoo","10":"tag-headlines","11":"tag-late-late-show","12":"tag-news","13":"tag-rte","14":"tag-state-papers","15":"tag-top-news","16":"tag-top-stories","17":"tag-topnews","18":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/214359","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=214359"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/214359\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/214360"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=214359"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=214359"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=214359"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}