Giant pandas debut at Zoo Atlanta on China loan

Giant pandas Ping Ping and Fu Shuang made their public debut at Zoo Atlanta on Friday, appearing before visitors after arriving from China in September.

The male panda, Ping Ping, and female panda, Fu Shuang, arrived from Chengdu on a FedEx flight called the “Panda Express” and are due to stay at the southern US zoo for 10 years.

Zoo Atlanta renovated its panda facilities, assembled a team of animal caretakers and arranged a long-term supply of bamboo grown locally in Atlanta before the pandas arrived.

Zoo Atlanta chief executive Raymond King told visitors that pandas have a “unique ability” to inspire curiosity and bring people together, and said the partnership supported the future of the species.

Giant pandas are native to temperate forest habitats in East Asia. Many have been sent to overseas zoos under China's long-running panda diplomacy programme.

Wildlife advocates list pandas as vulnerable, after they were previously considered endangered. An estimated 1,800 pandas live in the wild. China has established more than 50 panda reserves, though the bears continue to face threats including habitat loss and poaching.

Atlanta previously hosted pandas on loan from China starting in 1999, and seven panda cubs have been born at the zoo. All are now back in Chengdu, and Zoo Atlanta had not had pandas since 2024.

Both new arrivals were born in 2020, and zoo officials hope they will be suitable mates. Pandas in captivity typically live for about 30 years.