Two Chinese pandas leave for 10-year loan to Atlanta zoo
Two giant pandas have left Chengdu for Zoo Atlanta under a 10-year loan agreement between China and the United States. The move was announced during Chinese President Xi Jinping’s summit with US President Donald Trump and restores pandas to Atlanta after the zoo’s previous animals departed in 2024.
Two giant pandas have departed Chengdu in southwestern China for new homes at Zoo Atlanta under an agreement between the Chinese and American governments. The adult pandas, Ping Ping and Fu Shuang, are both five years old and were born in 2020 at the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding. They will be loaned to the Atlanta zoo for 10 years.
Chinese President Xi Jinping announced during a three-day summit with US President Donald Trump that the pandas would arrive in Atlanta. The agreement had been announced in April, but no dates were given at that time. The loan was one of the few concrete outcomes identified from the state visit.
The leaders exchanged expressions of goodwill but did not resolve the countries’ longstanding differences, according to the supplied material. Atlanta’s previous pandas left the zoo in 2024, meaning the new arrivals will return the animals to the facility. China has used panda loans internationally as a form of diplomacy.
Xi described the programme as an example of friendship between Chinese and American people. Ping Ping is male and Fu Shuang is female. Xinhua described distinguishing features including Ping Ping’s dark eye markings and Fu Shuang’s slightly protruding forehead.
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