An American benefactor has donated $4.5 million for the giant panda conservation program at the US National Zoo, where twin cubs were born last month. David Rubenstein, a co-chief executive of the Carlyle Group asset management firm, pledged to fund the Washington-based program through 2020. The zoo is home to female giant panda Mei Xiang, adult male Tian Tian, female two-year-old Bao Bao and an unnamed male cub born on August 22. His twin died of pneumonia within a week of birth.
"The National Zoo's panda program has been a remarkable success - two healthy pandas in just two years - and I am pleased to support it for another five years," Rubenstein said in statement issued by the zoo. The zoo's panda habitat - its star attraction - is named after the Rubenstein family in recognition of a previous donation to the program made in 2011. Eleven conservation biologists have also been awarded fellowships funded by Rubenstein to study pandas in the United States and China.