This Day in History April 16, 1972

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I happen to remember these two, but I didn't know the history surrounding them.  It was on this date in 1972 that China sent Ling-Ling and Hsing-Hsing to President Nixon following his trip to China.  In return, the U.S. sent China two musk oxen.  They attracted lots of visitors during their time at the National Zoo in Washington D.C.

Over the years, this pair provided us a lot of enjoyment and drama.  It was very sad indeed when they both passed on.  They did live to be quite old for pandas. Ling-Ling died in December 1992 at the ripe old age of 23, and Hsing-Hsing had to be put to sleep in November 1999 due to his major health problems at the age of 28.

For more information, please check out:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ling-Ling_and_Hsing-Hsing
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=7598033
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/local/daily/june99/lingdies92.htm
http://animal.discovery.com/convergence/pandas/meet/ling_hsing.html