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Zoo Atlanta to say goodbye to giant pandas in October

By FOX 5 Atlanta Digital Team
Published  September 20, 2024 10:27am EDT
Zoo Atlanta
FOX 5 Atlanta

ATLANTA - There's not much more time for panda fans to see Zoo Atlanta's quartet of giant pandas before they head to China.

The zoo announced that pandas Lun Lun, Yang Yang, Ya Lun, and Xi Lun will travel to China in mid-October 2024 as Zoo Atlanta’s agreement with China expires.

Currently, the four pandas are some of the only members of their species in the United States - the others being Yun Chuan and Xin Bao at the San Diego Zoo.

Every giant panda in the U.S. is on loan from the Chinese government as part of a 50-year conservation program. That loan expired for most zoos other than Atlanta in December, though other zoos have been working on new agreements with China in the months since.

While the zoo has not shared specifically when the pandas will leave Atlanta, officials say fans interested in seeing the animals should do so in the next three weeks.

"While Zoo Atlanta will certainly miss Lun Lun, Yang Yang, Ya Lun, and Xi Lun, and their departure is bittersweet, they have created a momentous legacy here in Atlanta and around the world, leaving their mark not only in the hearts of their friends and fans, but on the scientific and zoological communities’ understanding of the behavior, biology, and care of this rare and treasured species," said Zoo Atlanta's President and CEO Raymond B. King. 

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(Zoo Atlanta)

To celebrate the animals, the zoo will host a "Panda-Palooza" event on Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024. The zoo is also hosting a 45-minute experience and guided tour that will give visitors an exclusive look at the pandas. 

For more information on the tour, click here. 

Zoo Atlanta's panda history

Zoo Atlanta is the last place to see pandas in U.S.

Pretty soon, Zoo Atlanta will be the only place in the entire country where you can find giant pandas. All the pandas in the U.S. have been on loan from China and now China wants them back.

China first began loaning giant pandas to the U.S. in 1972 to commemorate President Nixon's historic visit to the Communist nation. Amid strained tensions between the U.S. and China President Xi Jinping, foreign policy researchers said it’s a sign of the times. 

"You see it with the pandas, with his attacks on the dollar, even with his nuclear weapons," said Rebecca Grant with IRIS Independent Research. "Frankly, the Communist Party of China just doesn't need to do panda diplomacy anymore."

Zoo Atlanta has worked with China since the mid-1990s on research dealing with the care and conservation of the species. Lun Lun and Yang Yang arrived at the zoo in 1999. Since 2006, seven giant pandas have been born at the zoo, including Mei Lan (born 2006); Xi Lan (born 2008); Po (born 2010); twins Mei Lun and Mei Huan (born 2013); and twins Ya Lun and Xi Lun (born 2016).

During the 50 years of panda exchanges, the animal has been removed from the list of endangered species, though fewer than 1,900 giant pandas are believed to remain in the wild in China.