Zoo Atlanta bids farewell to pandas after 25 years

After a quarter-century hosting giant pandas, Zoo Atlanta is saying goodbye to its beloved residents. The zoo announced its four giant pandas: Lun Lun, Yang Yang, Ya Lun and Xi Lun will head home to China mid-October. Meanwhile, the San Diego Zoo welcomed two new pandas this summer, and the Smithsonian National Zoo in Washington expects to become home to two bears by the end of 2024.

After a quarter-century hosting giant pandas, Zoo Atlanta is saying goodbye to its beloved residents. The zoo announced its four giant pandas: Lun Lun, Yang Yang, Ya Lun and Xi Lun will head home to China mid-October. Meanwhile, the San Diego Zoo welcomed two new pandas this summer, and the Smithsonian National Zoo in Washington expects to become home to two bears by the end of 2024. The panda’s departure from Zoo Atlanta is bittersweet. Since 1999 they have been an iconic part of the zoo and the city. Their images are splashed on billboards across Atlanta, and the zoo’s LIVE panda cam is a beloved local favorite. Pandas are rare at US zoos. Before the arrival of two bears in San Diego this past June, the Atlanta pandas were the only ones in the United States. They’ve served as adorable ambassadors for their species, pulling in millions of visitors and educating them on the struggles pandas face in the wild. Dr. Sam Rivera, Vice President of Animal Health at Zoo Atlanta, who has worked with the pandas since their arrival 25 years ago, says the goodbye will be tough. But the exchange of pandas between China and international zoos, like Zoo Atlanta, is an essential part of helping this vulnerable species. By allowing pandas to be studied at different zoological facilities, scientists can conduct research in diverse settings, gaining insights that could be overlooked in the bears’ native habitat. It also supports collaborations with non-zoological educational and research institutions. International partnerships have helped scientists better understand panda biology, behavior and environmental challenges. Zoo Atlanta marked several milestones over the past 25 years with the pandas. In 2016 Lun Lun and Yang Yang became parents to Ya Lun and Xi Lun, their second set of twins – making Zoo Atlanta the first US institution to raise two sets of twin pandas. The success of IVF births were a highlight among many major advancements in panda reproduction accomplished at the zoo. Dr. Rivera says the zoo is very proud of its success with panda reproduction and pregnancy monitoring. Other notable achievements include great strides understanding giant panda maternal behavior and, in working alongside partners at Georgia Tech, Zoo Atlanta determined giant pandas have color vision comparable to other bears. Another key benefit of pandas in zoos outside of China is the access they provide the public. Seeing pandas up close is a unique opportunity to learn about the at-risk species while also raising vital funds to support research. Zoo Atlanta says they have generated over $17 million for the conservation of giant pandas in China. Most of those funds have been used to support eight different Chinese nature reserves.