Giant Pandas Safely Arrive at San Diego Zoo From China

Giant Pandas are now back in the United States after safely arriving in Southern California from China as part of a new partnership aimed to continue conservation efforts.

On June 28, 2024, the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance shared an update on the Giant Pandas after their arrival. Here's what we know.

According to the Associated Press (AP), the two Pandas arrived and will be cared for at the San Diego Zoo as part of the ongoing partnership aimed at conservation.

Related: Pandas Are Officially Coming Back to America and People Can't Wait

The Giant Pandas, Xin Bao and Yun Chuan , will still be unable to be viewed at the San Diego Zoo for some time as they get used to their new environment in a private habitat before meeting the public.

“They are being monitored closely by expert wildlife health and care teams who will determine when the pair are ready to meet the public,” the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance told AP.

The two Giant Pandas are young adults with some ties to San Diego already. AP News, citing a press release from the zoo, shares that Xin Bao is a 4-year-old female who is described as “a gentle and witty introvert with a sweet round face and big ears.”

The second Giant Panda is 5-year-old Yun Chuan, and he has a connection to the zoo since his mom, Zhen Zhen, was born at the San Diego Zoo 17 years ago in 2007. Also, his grandmother, Bai Yun, lived at the San Diego Zoo for 23 years.

The bear duo is the first to arrive in the U.S. in 21 years, Axios explains, "marking a renewed panda diplomacy between China and Washington, D.C." The zoo was home to nine Giant Pandas between 1996 and 2019, when the last of the bears returned to China.

All Giant Pandas in the U.S. Are Part of a Major Conservation Effort to Save the Species

All Giant Pandas in the world belong to China, and any in zoos around the globe are just on loan, typically with a 30-to-50-year promise. According to AP , "Beijing currently lends out 65 pandas to 19 countries through 'cooperative research programs' with a stated mission to better protect the vulnerable species."

Even cubs born at zoos worldwide must "return to China when they reach old age, and any cubs born are sent to China around age 3 or 4."

Last year, at the end of a 50-year-old exchange agreement, three Giant Pandas at the National Zoo were returned to China, followed by the four Pandas at the Atlanta Zoo. Then Memphis Zoo returned its Giant Panda in April 2023, and San Diego returned theirs in 2019.

In February 2024, it was announced that China and the San Diego Zoo entered a new agreement that would see two Giant Pandas sent to the zoo in a renewed partnership. The two Pandas promised arrived this week at the San Diego Zoo.

The loan agreements are part of decades-long conservation efforts to help protect the endangered species. At one point, there were fewer than 1,000 Giant Pandas in the world, and the number is now nearly double that, at 1,800.