2 Pandas Coming To U.S. From China For First Time In 21 Years

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US-born giant panda Bei Bei eats bamboo in its enclosure at the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda in Ya’an, in China’s southwestern Sichuan province on June 12, 2024. After years of charming millions of people around the world with their furry bodies and clumsy antics, foreign-born giant pandas are adapting to new lives in China. The fluffy envoys are loaned to overseas zoos as part of Beijing’s “panda diplomacy”, with the offspring returned to China within a few years of their birth to join breeding programmes. (Photo by PEDRO PARDO/AFP via Getty Images)

OAN’s James Meyers
11:52 AM – Thursday, June 27, 2024

Pandas are officially being shipped back to the United States from China for the first time in 21 years.

Two pandas will soon be on their way from China to the famous San Diego Zoo in California.

San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance leaders joined esteemed dignitaries and conservation leaders in China for a farewell ceremony honoring Yun Chuan and Xin Bao, the two giant pandas coming to San Diego Zoo. pic.twitter.com/u16ujsIjU0

— San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance (@sandiegozoo) June 26, 2024

On Wednesday, officials in China said goodbye to two of their Giant Pandas, Yun Chuan and Xin Bao, before their long journey to the Golden State.

One of the pandas, the almost 5-year-old male Yun Chuan, is the son of a panda that was born at the San Diego Zoo back in 2007.

Caretaker Huang Shan has been reportedly preparing the pandas for the lengthy journey, which includes teaching them commands in English. Shan will travel with the 3-year-old and 4-year-old pandas in order to assist them with the transition into their new home.

The zoo first announced that it would be bringing in more pandas from China in February, and on Wednesday, officials stated that the pair “will travel to the San Diego Zoo soon after the farewell ceremony.”

However, it will take some time for the pandas to settle into their new climate at the San Diego Zoo, so visitors will not be allowed to see the pandas immediately.

“After the pandas have safely arrived in San Diego, they will not be viewable to the public for several weeks while they acclimate to their new home,” the zoo said in a press release.

“It is truly a moment where I get to pinch myself and think that I get to be a part of an organization that gets to do this,” San Diego Zoo President and CEO Paul Baribault said.

Baribault said that the conservation team members “have to do a lot of preparation to make sure that [the pandas] are well taken care of through the whole journey” and said that the San Diego-based team, plus their China conservation partners, “will be on the travel with them — it’ll be a great trip.”

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