Here’s why Zoo Atlanta is the only place in the U.S. you can visit pandas

ATLANTA — At the beginning of 2024, there will be one place for Americans to see pandas, and it’s right here in Atlanta.

The end of 2023 marks the expiration of a loan agreement between the United States and China regarding relocating pandas to zoos in the U.S.

In 1972, China gifted two pandas to the United States as a symbol of warming relations between the two countries.

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According to TIME, as panda numbers decreased, China began instituting loan agreements with zoos in the U.S., expecting that the animals be returned to China so that they could have an opportunity to be a part of the breeding population.

As loan agreements with many zoos across the country end in December 2023, Zoo Atlanta has negotiated the extension of their contract regarding panda twins Ya Lun and Xi Lun.

Per the loan agreement for adult pandas Lun Lun and Yang Yang, it has always been expected that the twins would travel to China when they were of age. However, due to the pandemic, the twins never traveled to China.

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Now over six years old, Ya Lun and Xi Lun will remain in Zoo Atlanta until early 2024. During this time, zoo staff and officials with the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding will work together to ensure a smooth transition.

Zoo Atlanta has returned pandas to China in the past. Ya Lun and Xi Lun’s older siblings, Mei Lan, Xi Lan, Po and twins Mei Lun and Mei Huan, were all under the age of five when they made the journey.

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“Zoo Atlanta is committed to the long-term stewardship of giant pandas and to the continuation of its valued partnership and collaboration with the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding and the Chinese Association of Zoological Gardens,” zoo officials said. “This partnership, which dates to the mid-1990s, continues to be very collaborative and productive in terms of research in areas such as giant panda behavior, biology, and maternal care – all of which have enhanced the global body of knowledge about this species, improved the care of giant pandas in zoological settings, and have supported the pandas’ wild counterparts in China.”

It is unclear how long the pandas will remain at Zoo Atlanta.

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