Two Giant Pandas Arrive in Atlanta on 10-Year Loan from China
China sent two adult giant pandas, Ping Ping and Fu Shuang, to Zoo Atlanta under a decade-long loan agreement announced during President Xi's visit to the United States.
Two adult giant pandas landed at Zoo Atlanta on Sunday, marking the start of a ten-year loan arrangement between the United States and China. The animals, named Ping Ping and Fu Shuang, departed Chengdu on a specially chartered Boeing 777 that the zoo described as a “FedEx Panda Express.”
The loan was announced by Chinese President Xi Jinping during his three-day summit with U.S. President Donald Trump and is one of the few concrete outcomes of the visit. The pandas will join Zoo Atlanta as the third U.S. zoo to house giant pandas, according to a new agreement with the China Wildlife Conservation Association.
Both pandas were born in 2020 at the Chengdu research base. Ping Ping, a male, is noted for dark circles around his eyes, while Fu Shuang, a female, has a slightly protruding forehead, as reported by Xinhua News Agency.
"The loan program is an example of friendship between the Chinese and Americans," Xi said during the summit.
Atlanta’s zoo had said goodbye to its previous pandas in 2024, leaving the facility without the species until the arrival of the new pair.