A male named Ping Ping and feminine Fu Shuang arrived from Chengdu in September through a FedEx flight dubbed the “Panda Express,” and are to be hosted within the southern US facility for the following 10 years.
Pandas are “animals that have got a unique ability to inspire curiosity, instill passion, evoke joy, and unite people around the globe,” CEO Raymond King instructed onlookers at Zoo Atlanta.
“This extraordinary spirit of partnership helps create a future for a species that is truly beloved the world over.”
In preparation for his or her arrival, Zoo Atlanta has renovated its panda amenities and assembled a workforce of animal caretakers.
It has additionally ensured a secure and long-term provide of bamboo, grown domestically in Atlanta, which has a local weather that’s similar to Chengdu.
“I think they inspire happiness,” zoo customer Rachel Totts instructed AFP on Friday. “They make people smile. I’ve never seen someone not say ‘Oh, it’s so cute!’ when they’re looking at a panda.”
Soft, furry energy
Ping Ping, a large panda on mortgage from China, enjoys a snack at Zoo Atlanta
Native to temperate forest habitats in East Asia, the lumbering black-and-white mammals don’t usually journey lengthy distances within the wild.
But many have been shipped to zoos around the globe as aside of Beijing’s decades-long “panda diplomacy” program to foster international ties.
The furry present of “soft power” got here as high US officers on Friday referred to as on China to uphold the commerce settlement made in an October 2025 assembly between US President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping.
The accord calmed tensions after a whirlwind of tariff hikes, and required China to purchase US soybeans whereas suspending export controls on uncommon earths.
Before 2016 pandas had been thought of endangered however are actually listed as “vulnerable” by wildlife advocates, and an estimated 1,800 pandas stay within the wild.
The Chinese authorities has established greater than 50 panda reserves for conservation, however within the wild the bears proceed to face threats of habitat loss and poaching.
Panda pairs
Fu Shuang, a large feminine panda on mortgage from China, makes her public debut at Zoo Atlanta
Atlanta beforehand hosted pandas on mortgage from China beginning in 1999, and 7 panda cubs have been born on the zoo. All are actually again in Chengdu, and Zoo Atlanta has not had any pandas since 2024.
Atlanta native John Perez celebrated his twenty eighth birthday at Zoo Atlanta on Friday, telling AFP the pandas drew him to go to for the primary time as a result of “it felt perfect, you know?”
Both of the brand new arrivals had been born in 2020, and it is hoped they are going to be appropriate mates. Pandas in captivity usually stay for round 30 years.
In 1972, China gifted a pair of pandas to Washington, following US president Richard Nixon’s historic go to to the Communist nation.
Beijing recalled two of its pandas from Japan early this yr, following a diplomatic spat that started when Japan’s prime minister hinted that Tokyo might intervene militarily within the occasion of any assault on Taiwan.
Originally revealed on France24