Green Daily

The last giant panda in Tokyo, Ling Ling, has unfortunately died, at the age of 22. Ling Ling moved to Tokyo from Beijing in 1992 for breeding purposes, but the Tokyo Zoo failed to breed any panda cubs between Ling Ling and three other pandas there. Ling Ling, pictured to the right, had been living alone since 2005.

This raises the question of whether Chinese President Hu Jintao might engage in "panda diplomacy" during his visit to Japan next week. China has conducted panda diplomacy with Japan in the past and donated four giant pandas to celebrate the restoration of diplomatic ties between the two countries. Detractors criticize China of using the pandas to push it's political agenda and to charge exorbitant loan fees to other countries.

According the Reuters article reporting this story, the giant panda is one of the world's most endangered species, found in the wild only in China, where an estimated 1,600 live in nature reserves in their native mountains and bamboo forests.

Rest in peace, Ling Ling.