David Rubenstein, a co-chief executive of the Carlyle Group asset management firm, pledged to fund the giant panda conservation program at the US National Zoo, through 2020. The gift worth $4.5 million.
Twin giant panda cubs were born last month at the Washington zoo to female giant panda Mei Xiang, a member of a family which include 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.
Will you offer us a hand? Every gift, regardless of size, fuels our future.
Your critical contribution enables us to maintain our independence from shareholders or wealthy owners, allowing us to keep up reporting without bias. It means we can continue to make Jewish Business News available to everyone.
You can support us for as little as $1 via PayPal at [email protected].
Thank you.
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.
A member of the zoo-owning Smithsonian Institution’s Board of Regents since 2009, Rubenstein has given a total of $9 million for panda research and another $2 million in 2013 for Asian elephant research.
panda
