Zoo Atlanta will return Lun Lun, Yang Yang and their 7-year-old twins Ya Lun and Xi Lun to China late this year, another chapter of “panda diplomacy.”
By Dan Rosenzweig-Ziff, The Washington PostThe Atlanta zoo will return its four pandas to China late this year, the facility announced Friday, in the latest chapter of a program often labeled “panda diplomacy.”
The zoo announced in November that the quartet would be leaving this year but had not indicated when that might be. It said this week that they would return in the fourth quarter. The pandas were loaded into large shipping crates, placed onto trucks by a forklift and driven to nearby Dulles International Airport.
The last ones to make the journey were another set of twins, Mei Lun and Mei Huan, who departed for China in 2016 after they turned 3 years old. The United States, though, could welcome a pair of new pandas before the four depart Atlanta. San Diego Zoo staffers visited China this year to prepare for the arrivals of Yun Chuan and Xin Bao as early as this summer, the Associated Press reported. Pandas had lived there and in Memphis before returning to China as their agreements expired in recent years.
If the San Diego Zoo doesn’t receive those bears before the Atlanta-based family leaves, the United States will be without giant pandas for the first time in more than 50 years.
United Kingdom Latest News, United Kingdom Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
The last pandas at any US zoo are expected to leave Atlanta for China this fallThe last U.S. zoo to have pandas in its care is preparing to say goodbye to the four giant bears this fall. Officials at Zoo Atlanta said Friday they are making preparations to return panda parents Lun Lun and Yang Yang to China in late 2024 along with their American-born twins, Ya Lun and Xi Lun.
Read more »
Last pandas in the U.S. have a timetable to fly back to ChinaAtlanta received Lun Lun and Yang Yang from China in 1999 as part of a 25-year loan agreement that will soon expire.
Read more »
China hosts foreign naval officials amid South China Sea tensionsThe Chinese Navy on Sunday kicked off a biennial meeting of top foreign naval officials in the port city of Qingdao, in a show of military diplomacy that will be closely watched for signs of more engagement between China and the United States.
Read more »
China, Phillippines trade blame over South China Sea skirmishChina claims almost the entire South China Sea, brushing off rival claims from other countries, including the Philippines.
Read more »
US and Philippines fire HIMARS into South China Sea amid China tensionsU.S. and Philippine forces fired rockets into the South China Sea, as part of an exercise to practice repelling a maritime attack.
Read more »
China reveals alleged 2016 'secret agreement' with Philippines regarding South China SeaChina alleges that in 2016, the Philippines entered into an unwritten agreement that restricted access by military and other official ships to islands in the South China Sea.
Read more »