Giant Pandas Return to Zoo Atlanta After Its First 25-Year Panda Chapter Came to a Close

Giant pandas are back in Atlanta after a nearly two-year absence. Ping Ping and Fu Shuang arrived Sept. 27, beginning a new chapter for a zoo that housed the beloved bears for a quarter-century before its previous panda program ended in 2024.

Zoo Atlanta says the pair landed at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport aboard a special FedEx Boeing 777 playfully dubbed the “Panda Express.” FedEx donated the aircraft for the trip from Chengdu, China.

Both were born at the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding; Ping Ping is a 6-year-old male born March 17, 2020. Fu Shuang is a 5-year-old female born Oct. 18, 2020.

Visitors will have to wait a little longer before meeting them. The pandas are spending roughly a month in a biologically secure section of their new habitat for a routine quarantine period. As of Sept. 28, Zoo Atlanta has not yet announced their debut to the public.

Atlanta’s Panda Partnership is Starting Again

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The new pandas come through an International Cooperative Research Agreement on Giant Panda Conservation between Zoo Atlanta and the China Wildlife Conservation Association.

For Atlanta, this marks the restoration of a relationship with giant pandas that first began back in 1999. The original pair, Lun Lun and Yang Yang, went on to have seven cubs at the zoo between 2006 and 2016, including two sets of twins.

That first agreement ended in 2024. Lun Lun, Yang Yang and the two youngest of their offspring, Ya Lun and Xi Lun, left Atlanta for China on Oct. 12, 2024, as recounted by Zoo Atlanta, leaving the zoo without giant pandas for the first time in a quarter of a century.

With Ping Ping and Fu Shuang now taking up residence, Zoo Atlanta says it is once again one of only three U.S. zoos housing giant pandas. It is also the only one in the Southeast.

Their First Month Will Be Quiet

Before departure, the bears were given time to become accustomed to their travel enclosures.

The actual trip itself was remarkably exclusive. FedEx says Ping Ping and Fu Shuang were the only cargo aboard the nonstop flight—aside from fresh bamboo, water and delicious treats. Zoo Atlanta animal specialists also traveled with them.

Once in Atlanta, they were moved into the zoo’s newly expanded giant panda complex.

Zoo Atlanta’s panda FAQ says the zoo will formally announce the official opening date after quarantine, along with more information about the bears’ new home.

While Atlanta officially has giant pandas again, the big public reunion is still waiting in the wings—r cute, fuzzy panda arms.