Miami zoo learnt the lesson: being under the lights was not such a glowing experience for Paora the 4 year old kiwi, the national bird of New Zealand. It’s true though that the exposure to dazzling light brought for him in its wake the proverbial limelight. Adding insult to injury to the ‘night-loving’ bird, visitors were allowed to pat it also and the Land of Long White Cloud reached the end of their tolerance to the mistreatment of their much loved flightless birdie. For a reason though! Paora is one the approximately five dozen kiwis living outside New Zealand, many of them gifted under ‘kiwi diplomacy’, akin to ‘panda diplomacy’ of China. In fact, Paora is a second generation ‘diplomat’, ferried to Miami as an egg from his parents who were brought to Washington zoo in 2010 to introduce genetic diversity into motley kiwi populations in captivity.
The odium from the ‘patting in bright light’ incident led to online protests from many Kiwis (the homo sapien variety) which even forced the Prime Minister Chris Hipkins to chip in with his displeasure. Not known if the Miami menagerie was accused of breaking the tenets of Vienna Convention!
To be sure, New Zealanders are not the only ones finicky about the animals they gift – Pandora’s box used to be opened when Pandas gifted by China looked ill-treated in the new home. To put the perspective right, everyone in New Zealand knows that the flightless national bird is nocturnal and should be ‘handled’, in the literal sense, by experts only. For good measure, the Miami zoo offered an apology, turned off the spotlights and Paora is now out of bounds for the caressing hands of the visitors. An abrupt adieu to ‘Kiwi Encounter’!
Animal diplomacy has figured in various countries’ foreign policy for ages and the gifting happens along with stipulations on the care to be imparted in the receiving nation. The continued happiness and health of the guest is the obvious responsibility of the host. Indeed, you don’t look a gift horse in the mouth, but to the giver, the horse should continue to look agile in the new environment!
On that count, yet another animal in an ‘alien’ country that raised a lot of diplomatic dust in the recent past is ‘Ya Ya’, the panda. The ‘fluffy goodwill ambassador’ reached the US in 2003. Two decades later, a much leaner ‘Ya Ya’ was carried back home last month in a 16-hour FedEx ‘panda express’ plane. Unlike the chubby infant who came to America, the 22-year-old Ya Ya appeared skinny, with her black and white coat missing clumps of fur. Many in China were concerned to see the lean sow and clamored for her return. Afterall, losing weight is not a virtue or coveted goal for a panda unlike we humans! Some felt it to be the sign of times that a deteriorating US-China relations have contributed to the hue and cry. It is unknown yet if China’s controversial balloon that wafted over the US was also tasked to monitor the alleged ill treatment of Ya Ya by the yo-yos in the Memphis zoo! The fact that her male companion ‘Le Le’ who was to return China at the end of 20 year loan period died suddenly in February this year also fuelled the mistreatment theory. Chinese media incidentally showed a couple of playful energetic pandas in Moscow zoo as an example of how real friends treat their gifts. Perhaps the Moscow pandas benefitted from the ‘limitless friendship’ found between the two countries after the onset of the Ukraine war!
Apart from politics, living beings as state gifts are frowned upon by animal rights activists. They abhor the commodification of animals. The creatures are sentient beings with thoughts, feelings and families. Transporting them long distance to unknown ambience to end up in strange zoos is an immense disservice. Giving animals as diplomatic gifts is no gift at all for the animals! No wonder, the practice is on the decline and recent incidents as above may hopefully lead to an end.
In the meantime, it is assumed that Ya Ya is on a weight-enhancement regimen in Beijing and Paora is enjoying the regained darkness, untouched!
