ATLANTA — After years of delighting visitors, giant pandas Lun Lun, Yang Yang, Ya Lun, and Xi Lun have officially departed for their new home in China.
The pandas boarded their flight on the morning of Oct. 12, marking the end of an era at Zoo Atlanta.
This move is part of the longstanding panda agreement between the U.S. and China. The four pandas will join the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding, where they will continue to contribute to conservation efforts.
FedEx generously donated transportation for this special journey, and three Zoo Atlanta staff members accompanied the pandas to ensure their comfort. Their travel supplies included 300 pounds of bamboo, 10 pounds of fresh produce, six gallons of water, and 20 pounds of leafeater biscuits, a key part of their diet.
The departure follows the zoo’s recent “Panda-Palooza” farewell celebration on October 5, where fans gathered to say their goodbyes. Zoo Atlanta has played a critical role in giant panda conservation, contributing over $17 million since the mid-1990s to support efforts in China, including reforestation and reserve management.
Zoo Atlanta said it currently has no plans to bring pandas back.
More on Zoo Atlanta's former Pandas
Zoo Atlanta had four pandas, including the first twins born in the United States in over a quarter century. Giant pandas typically care for only one cub when twins are born in the wild, which usually leads to just one twin surviving.
Ya Lun and Xi Lun and their parents, Lun Lun and Yang Yang, are their names.
Zoo Atlanta's Statement on Conservation Efforts
Dating to the mid-1990s, even prior to the arrival of Lun Lun and Yang Yang in 1999, Zoo Atlanta’s partnership with colleagues in China has a longtime history of collaboration and information sharing that has benefited the care, study, and conservation of giant pandas.
Since the inception of its giant panda program, Zoo Atlanta has contributed over $17 million in support of the conservation of wild giant pandas. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) updated the giant panda’s status from Endangered to Vulnerable in 2016; however, fewer than 1,900 giant pandas are believed to remain in the wild in China, with the majority living on nature reserves. Habitat loss and habitat fragmentation remain the primary threats to wild giant pandas. Conservation support from Zoo Atlanta has benefited pandas living on nature reserves, aiding in reforestation efforts, reserve management and ranger support, and genetic diversity studies.
In addition to conservation support and contributions to the global body of scientific knowledge of giant pandas and their biology and behavior, the Zoo Atlanta panda program has been notably successful in terms of future contributions to the population of the species. Seven giant pandas have been born at the Zoo since 2006, including two successful pairs of twins. Offspring of Lun Lun and Yang Yang include 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). Mei Lan, Xi Lan, Po, Mei Lun, and Mei Huan already reside at the Chengdu Research Center of Giant Panda Breeding in China and have since all become parents themselves.