France bids farewell to beloved pandas bound for China

Saint Aignan, France: Two pandas at a zoo in central France are to return to China on Tuesday after the female was diagnosed with kidney failure, draw...

Saint-Aignan, France: Two pandas at a zoo in central France are to return to China on Tuesday after the female was diagnosed with kidney failure, drawing hundreds of visitors for a final goodbye.

Huan Huan and her partner Yuan Zi arrived at the Beauval Zoo in 2012 as part of China's "panda diplomacy" programme, which sees the black-and-white bears dispatched across the globe as soft-power ambassadors.

The two pandas, both 17, were meant to stay in France until January 2027, but will return to China on Tuesday to live out their retirement at the Chengdu panda sanctuary, leaving behind some devoted fans.

More than 200 well-wishers braved a cold and rainy Sunday to say "bon voyage", including one couple dressed head-to-toe in panda-themed gear, who say they have visited the bears "more than a thousand times" since their arrival in 2012.

Patrice Colombel, an electronics technician, and his wife Veronique, an administrative assistant at a secondary school, told AFP they would not have missed the chance to see them off.