"Staff Dress Up as Pandas"...Unique Program at Japanese Zoo After Pandas Returned to China

Experience Tour Introduced After Panda Return Leads to Drop in Visitors
Positive Response Continues Despite High Price and Quick Sellouts

A Japanese zoo has attracted attention by running a unique program in which staff members dress up as pandas to greet visitors, following the return of its real pandas to China.

On January 8 (local time), the South China Morning Post (SCMP) and other outlets reported that Adventure World in Wakayama Prefecture, Japan, has introduced a "Panda Keeper Experience Tour."

Adventure World sent four pandas-Lauhin (24), and cubs Yuihin, Saihin, and Fuhin-back to China in June of last year. Lauhin is known as the first panda born in Japan to reach adulthood.

Giant panda Leilei at Ueno Zoo in Tokyo. Photo by Yonhap News

The Panda Keeper Experience Tour is held every Saturday, Sunday, and public holiday, with a maximum of 10 participants per day. The tour includes visits to panda play and living areas, introductions to panda care cases, and a simulated feeding experience. However, there are no real pandas present; instead, staff members take turns dressing up as pandas and enter the enclosure. Participants hand over apples and bamboo for an indirect feeding experience, and receive a "Keeper Certificate" upon completion.

Despite the relatively high cost of 8,000 yen (about 70,000 KRW) per person, applications for the tour reportedly fill up quickly.

It is known that one of the reasons for introducing the program was a decline in visitors after the panda family was sent back to China. While some have criticized the program as being overly artificial, most participants have responded positively. One visitor said, "I was simply happy to be in the same space as my favorite pandas."

Meanwhile, the last remaining pandas in Japan, twins Xiaoxiao and Leilei, are scheduled to leave Ueno Zoo in Tokyo for China at the end of this month. With their return approaching, crowds have flocked to the zoo, with waiting times reportedly reaching up to three hours.

Ueno Zoo sought to extend the deadline or arrange a new lease with China before the scheduled return date of February 20, but ultimately, the pandas will be returned a month earlier than planned.

China has maintained its so-called "panda diplomacy" by lending giant pandas to overseas zoos, and it is standard practice to return pandas born abroad to China when they reach adulthood, usually around the age of four. If all pandas leave Japan, it will be the first time since 1972 that the country is without pandas.