The last US zoo with pandas in its care expects to say goodbye to the four giant bears this fall.

Zoo Atlanta is making preparations to return panda parents Lun Lun and Yang Yang to China along with their American-born twins Ya Lun and Xi Lun, zoo officials said Friday.

There is no specific date for the transfer yet, they said, but it is likely to happen between October and December.

The four Atlanta pandas have been the last in the United States since the National Zoo in Washington returned three pandas to China last November. Other American zoos have sent pandas back to China as loan agreements lapsed amid heightened diplomatic tensions between the two nations.

Atlanta received Lun Lun and Yang Yang from China in 1999 as part of a 25-year loan agreement that will soon expire.

Ya Lun and Xi Lun, born in 2016, are the youngest of seven pandas born at Zoo Atlanta since their parents arrived. Their siblings are already in the care of China’s Chengdu Research Center of Giant Panda Breeding.

It is possible that America will welcome a new panda pair before the Atlanta bears depart. The San Diego Zoo said last month that staff members recently travelled to China to meet pandas Yun Chuan and Xin Bao, which could arrive in California as soon as this summer.

Zoo Atlanta officials said in a news release they should be able to share “significant advance notice” before their pandas leave.

As to whether Atlanta might see host any future pandas, “no discussions have yet taken place with partners in China”, zoo officials said.

ATLANTA – The City of Atlanta has placed its human resources commissioner on administrative leave while it investigates accusations of nepotism.

Officials have confirmed an ongoing investigation by the city’s Law Department into Commissioner Tarlesha Smith.

According to a report obtained by FOX 5, the Office of the Inspector General investigation began in April 2023 over an allegation that Smith created a city position for her daughter and then tried to have her daughter’s supervisor terminated.

In the report, Smith is accused of creating a full-time position with the Office of the City Solicitor specifically for her daughter in the fall of 2022.

“City staff expedited the daughter’s onboarding process, skipping elements of her background check and disregarding her ineligibility,” the report reads. “She did not receive an employment or education verification. She was not interviewed. She did not meet the minimum qualifications of the position.”

When Smith’s daughter reportedly began to be late and absent from her work due to her supervisor, OCS Director of Administration Jennifer Johnson, denying her request to telework, officials say Johnson recommended that she be fired.

Instead, the report says the Department of Human Resources began to investigate Johnson, placed her on administrative leave, and told her department head that she would be terminated.

“The department head, who had worked with the supervisor for more than 25 years and who could not recall a single complaint against the supervisor, requested that DHR provide him with documentation to support this action — a copy of the complaint against the supervisor and a copy of DHR’s investigative findings,” the report reads. “DHR provided no documentation.”

The investigation also revealed additional concerns about Smith’s “unprofessionalism” and “deviation from human resources standards.”

Following the report, a City of Atlanta spokesperson said Smith was placed on administrative leave while City Law handles its independent investigation and interviews additional employees.

“We want to ensure we have a comprehensive review of the facts,” the spokesperson said.

The city has also asked the Law Department to develop an updated policy related to immediate family members.