Two Giant Pandas From China Land in Atlanta After Nearly Two-Year Gap
Male Ping Ping and female Fu Shuang arrived in Atlanta on a chartered FedEx flight from Chengdu and will stay at Zoo Atlanta for 10 years.
Two giant pandas from China arrived in Atlanta on Sunday morning, restoring a popular attraction to the city's zoo after an absence of nearly two years.
Male Ping Ping and female Fu Shuang touched down aboard a chartered FedEx cargo plane after leaving Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport in southwest China's Sichuan Province. Ping Ping was born on March 17, 2020, and Fu Shuang on Oct. 18, 2020.
Under a conservation agreement with the China Wildlife Conservation Association, the pair are expected to remain at Zoo Atlanta for 10 years.
Visitors will not see them immediately. The pandas will undergo quarantine and be allowed time to settle into their new surroundings before going on public view. Chinese veterinarians and caretakers travelled ahead of the animals to assist with their care.
Ahead of the arrival, some zoo-goers spoke of their eagerness to return. Alex Haller, visiting from Miami, said she was thrilled the city was getting pandas again and planned to come back to see them.
Another visitor, Nikki Roberts, brought out photographs she had taken three years earlier of Ya Lun and Xi Lun, the twin sisters born at the zoo. Roberts described her fondness for the animals, calling them cute.
Ya Lun and Xi Lun were the youngest of seven cubs born in five litters to Lun Lun and Yang Yang, who came from China in 1999. Their first cub, Mei Lan, later fathered Meng Lan and the twins He Hua and He Ye, all of whom have become well-known pandas in China.
Lun Lun and Yang Yang returned to China with Ya Lun and Xi Lun in October 2024, bringing to a close 25 years of giant pandas at Zoo Atlanta.