Montana Is For Grizzly’s Not Pandas. China Just Made Sure Of That

Montana is known for a few things. Beer, Beef, and Bears come to mind. That is unless China says you can't have any, and that's exactly what just happened.

In Montana, we are NOT known for our zoo. As a matter of fact, the biggest Zoo attraction we have is in Billings, and even right now it's been turned into one of the biggest Christmas light displays in America. Seriously. USA Today has them at #6 currently. You should go vote!

But back to those bears...

Now, of course, a Montana zoo would have a Grizzly Bear. I mean, that's a given. What about some other bear species? Like say, a Panda? Wouldn't it be incredibly rad to walk into the Billings Zoo and see this masked bandit bear just chilling and eating bamboo? You've seen the videos of them just being goofy and playful. Like, seriously. Who doesn't like Panda's? Not China. That's for sure.

As it turns out China owns every Panda in the United States. Not only that, they own any and all offspring those Panda's might birth. It comes from a long-standing National Zoo Panda Program that started back in the late 90's. Basically what it states is the United States can house and keep Pandas in their zoo costs America $500,000 yearly. We pay rent, we don't own, and now China is pulling that agreement.

After more than 20 years, China is taking all its Pandas back. The only place you will be able to visit a Panda is in Mexico City or Beijing going forward. That means, the state known for its bears, will never have this particular one, and that's kind of sad.

Officials say that the sudden removal of Pandas from the United States is due to ongoing tensions between the two countries, but that doesn't mean that the animals have to suffer.