The four giant pandas at Zoo Atlanta will be leaving in mid-October, the zoo announced Friday.
Zoo Atlanta, which has housed Lun Lun and Yang Yang since they arrived as 2-year-old cubs in 1999, didn’t reveal the exact date the pandas and their two offspring will be transported back to Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding, but it’s planning a big farewell celebration dubbed “Panda-Palooza” from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 5.
“Friends and fans interested in visiting the giant pandas are encouraged to do so within the next three weeks,” the zoo said in a news release. The pandas have resided for public view at the Zoo’s Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation Giant Panda Conservation Center.
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The zoo’s deal with China officially ends on Halloween. Pandas at zoos in San Diego, Memphis and Washington, D.C. have been returned to China in recent years, but the San Diego zoo last month received Yun Chuan and Xin Bao, the first new pandas to enter the United States in 21 years.
From a publicity and attendance standpoint, the pandas have been a steady draw over the years for Zoo Atlanta.
“Their departure is bittersweet,” said Raymond B. King, Zoo Atlanta’s president and CEO, in the release. But “they have created a momentous legacy here in Atlanta and around the world, leaving their mark not only in the hearts of their friends and fans, but on the scientific and zoological communities’ understanding of the behavior, biology, and care of this rare and treasured species.”
King was not available Friday for an interview but told the AJC earlier this year that the zoo was optimistic about Atlanta’s chances to again become panda hosts in the future.
“There’s a high level of mutual respect going both ways,” King said in February. “They send delegations over to see how we’re doing, and they’ve never left with any criticism.”
Seven giant pandas have been born at Zoo Atlanta since 2006, including two pairs of twins. Offspring of Lun Lun and Yang Yang include Mei Lan (born 2006); Xi Lan (born 2008); Po (born 2010); twins Mei Lun and Mei Huan (born 2013); and twins Ya Lun and Xi Lun (born 2016). Mei Lan, Xi Lan, Po, Mei Lun, and Mei Huan already reside at the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding in China and have since all become parents themselves.
Youngsters Ya Lun and Xi Lun will return to China next month with Lun Lun and Yang Yang.
Zoo Atlanta’s conservation support benefits habitat restoration, reserve management, and ranger support, as well as genetic diversity research for pandas in China. Giant pandas can live up to 35 years in captivity.
The panda program at Zoo Atlanta is “our proudest conservation story,” King said earlier this year. “There are few success stories in animal conservation, but the growing population of pandas in the wild is directly attributable to this program that we participate in.”
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