The San Francisco Zoo is moving forward, undeterred, with their plan for panda diplomacy, and they say things are on track to bring a pair of giant pandas to SF in the next year.

The update came at Thursday's meeting of the Recreation and Park Commission, and as the Chronicle reports, zoo CEO and Executive Director Tanya Peterson told the commission that the zoo is now hopeful that the pandas could arrive by next April. Peterson said that she had recently hosted a Chinese Friendship Delegation of scientists and government officials to discuss the panda plan, which was put in motion last year by Mayor London Breed.

Regarding whether Trump's ongoing and escalating trade war with China would affect this process, Peterson reportedly said, "It’s safe to say, at this point, there are no tariffs on the endangered species."

But who knows where we will be on that front in six months?

According to previously announced discussions, China would seek a $1 million per year rental fee for the pandas.

Setting aside the Oval Office clown show, we had thought the panda plan might evaporate after it failed to get Breed reelected, and after we'd heard in January that a major donor to the zoo, real estate magnate John McNellis, was badmouthing the idea following a scathing report from the SF Animal Control and Welfare Commission about deteriorating conditions at the zoo, generally.

"Pursuing pandas while the zoo is in its worst shape ever is a serious mistake," McNellis said three months ago. "The money that it would cost to grandly house and rent pandas from China could be far better spent on at last renovating the zoo, repaving its cracked and failing roads, replacing its spent landscaping [and] rehabilitating its existing exhibits."

Also, Peterson seemed somewhat doubtful in January that Mayor Daniel Lurie would have the same enthusiasm for the panda project that Breed had prior to the November election.

Nevertheless, the zoo said in late October that it was nearing a $20 million fundraising goal to underwrite a panda exhibit — which would include the renovation of a former lion enclosure for them, and the high cost of their daily bamboo diet.

Still, that might only cover the panda's arrival and perhaps a year of food and care. If the pandas were to stick around for ten years, which is a typical length of a panda loan, one animal welfare group suggested that it could cost the city $70 million in total — but another report forecast, maybe optimistically, that the zoo could take in $320 million in added ticket revenue over that period as well, thanks to the pandas.

Pandas at the SF Zoo remain a pipe dream, and we probably shouldn't get too excited until they're actually landing at SFO.

David Towne, the retried former director of the Giant Panda Conservation Foundation, tells the Chronicle this week that "until you get the pandas in your facility anything is possible." And, he added, regarding any panda negotiations so far, "You never are really dealing with the people that are going to make the final decision. It’s a centralized government over there, and they operate based on the whim of the moment. And at the moment things are not really bright between the countries."

Previously: SF Zoo Claims It’s Nearing Its $20 Million Fundraising Goal to Bring Pandas to Town

Photo by yongzheng xu