Georgia zoo prepares to repatriate the last giant pandas from the United States to China

One of Zoo Atlanta’s four pandas rests in its habitat on December 30, 2023, in Atlanta. The zoo’s giant panda deal with China expires at the end of 2024, and plans are underway for Lun Lun, Yang Yang, Ya Lun and Xi Lun to visit China later in the year, although more Further details about their trip were not immediately available. (AP Photo/Kate Brumback)

(The Hill) — Zoo Atlanta is preparing to return its giant pandas to China, like other states, the zoo confirmed Friday in a news release.

“With Zoo Atlanta’s giant panda deal with China set to expire in 2024, preliminary plans are underway for Lun Lun, Yang Yang, Ya Lun and Xi Lun to travel to China later this year,” the statement said.

“Zoo Atlanta has applied for an international travel permit for the pandas, and the bears are expected to travel to China in the fourth quarter of 2024,” the zoo added. “No more specific information on the panda travel schedule is available at this time; the schedule will be identified in collaboration with official partners in China.

Zoo officials noted that the process of returning the pandas, which are on loan from China according to the website, is lengthy and requires months of planning.

Zoo Atlanta’s pandas are the last pandas in the United States, while bears at other zoos across the country, including those in Memphis, Tenn., and Washington, D.C., recently returned their pandas to China.

However, San Francisco is expected to have its own pair of pandas next year, Mayor London Breed announced last month.

“San Francisco is absolutely thrilled to welcome giant pandas to our San Francisco Zoo,” Breed said in a statement.

China Wildlife Conservation Association (CWCA) Secretary General Wu Minglu said the organization would work with Bay Area city authorities to prepare for the pandas’ arrival in 2025, according to the Associated Press.

Chinese President Xi Jinping, during a meeting with business leaders in the city last November, called the bears “envoys of friendship.”

The panda exchange with China began as part of a deal brokered by then-President Nixon in 1972, which led to the loan of several pandas to American zoos for research purposes.