No Panda Prison in NYC

U.S. Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney must call off her plans to import two giant pandas from China into NYC.

Pandas are wild animals, not objects for display. In the forests of China, they have rich lives, gathering food, roaming freely and raising their young. In captivity, they languish in their enclosures while people take selfies through sheets of glass. Watch my campaign video describing why we're opposed to her efforts here. 



Leasing pandas from China will not only fuel the market for captive pandas but also help to perpetuate the abuse that exists in China's panda breeding facilities. Undercover video released in July, 2017 showed workers using excessive force on two babies. This disturbing footage reinforces what we already know — that panda breeding facilities are panda mills in disguise. Indeed, pandas born in captivity are rented out, like commodities, for $1 million/year per pair to zoos.

In 2012, the Director of Conservation Education at China's largest panda breeding facility described captive-bred pandas as a "caricature" of the real thing. People who are genuinely interested in learning about pandas can watch nature programs that document their behavior in their natural habitat. Observing pandas in an artificial enclosure will only teach people that wild animals should be imprisoned for our amusement. And it will do nothing to help conserve pandas in the wild.

Please sign and share my petition to urge Representative Maloney to abandon her efforts to bring a panda prison to NYC.