China to Send Giant Pandas Ping Ping and Fu Shuang to Zoo Atlanta Under 10-Year Conservation Loan

A pair of giant pandas named Ping Ping and Fu Shuang are preparing to travel nearly 8,000 miles from Chengdu, China, to Zoo Atlanta in Georgia. The announcement regarding Ping Ping and Fu Shuang was made in an April 23 news release from Zoo Atlanta. They will be housed at the zoo under a 10-year conservation agreement between the zoo and the China Wildlife Conservation Association.

"Zoo Atlanta is delighted and honored to yet again be trusted as stewards of this treasured species and to partner with the China Wildlife Conservation Association on the continued conservation and research efforts that are the most important outcomes of this cooperation," Raymond B.

King, President and CEO of Zoo Atlanta, said in the statement. Both pandas were born at the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding in China's Sichuan province, about 1,200 miles southwest of Beijing.

It is not yet known when Ping Ping and Fu Shuang are expected to arrive in the United States. Rachel Davis, a Zoo Atlanta spokesperson, stated in a May 15 email to USA TODAY that the zoo did not have any additional information to share on the pandas. NBC News reported the pair, who have not met before, will first be moved to another panda base farther south before traveling to the United States.

U.S. leader to visit the country in nearly a decade. This will not be the first time Zoo Atlanta has housed giant pandas.

The zoo previously housed Lun Lun and Yang Yang, who arrived at Zoo Atlanta in 1999. Lun Lun and Yang Yang lived in Atlanta for 25 years and welcomed seven cubs there before they returned to China in 2024. Five of Lun Lun and Yang Yang’s offspring are at the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding.