The High Cost of Panda Cuteness
![](https://money.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/screen-shot-2016-01-28-at-4-37-16-pm.png?quality=60&w=600)
Giant pandas are very cute, but incredibly expensive. American zoos do not actually own the pandas that we enjoy going to visit. China rents pandas out to the tune of $1 million a year. Zoos typically sign a 10-year contract, which means that at the end of that contract, a zoo will have spent $10 million renting one panda.
And any cubs that are born while at the zoo? Well, China charges a cub tax of $400,000. And those little cuties have to be shipped back to China when they turn three.
But they're still really cute.