It is an obsession that has taken her to the other side of the world, one that has turned casual conversations into arm-twisting negotiations, and innocuous radio chitchat into a stealth attack on the mayor of New York. This is the story of Representative Carolyn B. Maloney and her unusual ursine quest: to bring a pair of pandas to the city.

Securing pandas for any American city is an undertaking of extraordinary diplomatic and financial complexity. The costs of leasing pandas from China, feeding them and building a suitable habitat would run into the tens of millions of dollars. And given that four American zoos already have pandas, persuading reluctant Chinese officials to relinquish two more to New York has been exceedingly difficult. And yet, Ms. Maloney has been undeterred.

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