2 pandas from China are heading to Zoo Atlanta, Chinese President Xi Jinping says
The Zoo Atlanta will be getting two pandas from China.
During his state visit with President Donald Trump on Thursday at the White House, Chinese President Xi Jinping said he is sending two giant pandas to the U.S.
In remarks ahead of his private meeting with Trump, Xi addressed a number of topics before revealing that the pandas will be arriving at the zoo.
"The giant panda has been an envoy of friendship between the Chinese and Americans," Xi said. "Here, I have a piece of good news. In a few days, two pandas, Ping-Ping and Fu Shang, will come to their new home in Zoo Atlanta, and meet with the American people."
The announcement comes five months after Zoo Atlanta revealed a new International Cooperative Research Agreement on giant panda conservation, initiated between Zoo Atlanta and the China Wildlife Conservation Association.
Zoo Atlanta told ABC News that they will not be sharing the pandas' arrival date and had no further information to share.
Historically, China has used pandas to mark important diplomatic milestones. In 1972, China sent pandas to the U.S. following President Richard Nixon's historic visit to China, symbolizing cross-cultural collaboration between the U.S. and China, according to the Smithsonian's National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute.
The first two pandas that were sent in 1972 to the Smithsonian's National Zoo in Washington, D.C., were giant pandas Ling-Ling (a female) and Hsing-Hsing (a male). The pandas produced five cubs, but none of the offspring survived. A second pair of giant pandas arrived in Washington, D.C., in 2000.
In 1996, pandas Bai Yun and Shi Shi arrived at the San Diego Zoo. They produced a panda cub named Hua Mei through artificial insemination, which was the first panda cub to survive in captivity.
Since then, the zoo saw the arrival of another panda and the births of several cubs before the pandas left in 2019 due to a loan agreement ending with the People's Republic of China.
A new loan agreement between China and the San Diego Zoo started again five years later and on Aug. 8, 2024, the San Diego Zoo welcomed two new pandas.
Zoo Atlanta's giant panda era began in 1999 with the arrival of Lun Lun and Yang Yang. The pair successfully welcomed seven cubs before returning to China in 2024, when the zoo's original giant panda loan agreement with China expired in 2024.
While Zoo Atlanta had nothing further to share, its website says that Ping Ping is a male and Fu Shuang is a female. The pandas were born at Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding in China. Ping Ping was born on March 17, 2020, and Fu Shuang was born on Oct. 18, 2020.
