The final U.S. zoo to house pandas anticipates bidding farewell to the four giant animals this autumn.
Zoo Atlanta officials announced on Friday that they are in the process of preparing to repatriate panda parents Lun Lun and Yang Yang to China, along with their American-born twins Ya Lun and Xi Lun. They stated that the transfer has not yet been scheduled; however, it is anticipated to occur between October and December.
The National Zoo in Washington returned three pandas to China last November, and the four pandas in Atlanta are the last to remain in the United States. On November 8 and 24, the pandas flew to China and subsequently disembarked in Chengdu, the location of the Chinese National Zoo. Mei Xiang and Tian Tian were loaned for a research and breeding program. In 2020, the couple welcomed a child named Xiao Qi Ji, who also returned to China. In order to transport the giant pandas to the airport, forklifts were required to transport them in vehicles. Once there, they boarded a special flight that contained “snacks,” which included approximately 220 pounds of bamboo.
Pandas were initially transported to Washington, D.C. to promote the conservation of the species through reproduction. Subsequently, the zoo has maintained pairs of pandas.
As a result of the escalation of diplomatic tensions between the two countries, additional American museums have repatriated pandas to China by expiring loan agreements. The only other zoos in the United States that have housed gargantuan pandas are those in San Diego and Memphis, in addition to the zoos in Atlanta and Washington, D.C. The final surviving panda returned to Memphis in April 2023. In 2019, the pandas of San Diego were reintroduced, more than thirty years after the initial pair was introduced in 1987.
In 1999, Atlanta acquired Lun Lun and Yang Yang from China as part of a 25-year loan agreement that is set to expire shortly.
Ya Lun and Xi Lun, who were born in 2016, are the latest of seven pandas to be born at Zoo Atlanta since their parents arrived. Their siblings are currently under the supervision of the Chengdu Research Center for Giant Panda Breeding in China.
Before the Atlanta animals depart, it is feasible that the United States will receive a new panda pair. The San Diego Zoo announced last month that staff members recently traveled to China to meet pandas Yun Chuan and Xin Bao, which are expected to arrive in California as early as this summer. In April, the San Francisco Zoo signed a memorandum of understanding with the China Wildlife Conservation Association to introduce pandas to the zoo. Pandas were briefly housed at the zoo in the 1980s; however, this agreement represents the first time that pandas will be present at the San Francisco Zoo.
Zoo Atlanta officials stated in a news release that they anticipate being able to provide “substantial advance notice” prior to the departure of their pandas. Zoo officials confirmed that “no discussions have yet taken place with collaborators in China” regarding the potential for Atlanta to host pandas in the future.
The panda’s survival is still considered to be at severe risk, despite the fact that reproduction programs have increased their numbers. According to the World Wildlife Fund, there are just over 1,800 pandas remaining in the wild.
