Giant pandas to leave Wakayama but memories of 'Big Daddy' will linger

Deceased father of 16 cubs helped attract visitors to a local amusement park

Panda Yuihin Top 2025-05

Yuihin is one of the four giant pandas leaving the Adventure World amusement park in Shirahama, Wakayama prefecture. (Photo by Hironari Tamura)

HIRONARI TAMURA

WAKAYAMA, Japan -- With all four giant pandas on loan to a zoo in western Japan's Wakayama prefecture returning to China late next month, many of their fans can't help but bemoan the fate of "Big Daddy."

In January, a 32-year-old male panda named Eimei died at the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding in China's Sichuan province. Eimei was born in China but lived from 1994 to 2023 at the Adventure World amusement park in Shirahama, Wakayama.

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