Last pandas in the U.S. have a timetable to fly back to China
CBSN
The last U.S. zoo with pandas in its care expects to say goodbye to the four giant bears this fall.
Zoo Atlanta is making preparations to return panda parents Lun Lun and Yang Yang to China along with their American-born twins Ya Lun and Xi Lun, zoo officials said Friday. There is no specific date for the transfer yet, they said, but it will likely happen between October and December.
The four Atlanta pandas have been the last in the United States since the National Zoo in Washington returned three pandas to China last November. Those pandas flew to China on Nov. 8 and 24 later landed in Chengdu where the Chinese National Zoo is located. Mei Xiang and Tian Tian were on loan for a research and breeding program. In 2020 the couple had a baby named Xiao Qi Ji, who also returned to China. Forklifts had to move the giant pandas to the airport in trucks where they boarded a special flight with "snacks," including around 220 pounds of bamboo.
