China’s giant pandas make public debut at US zoo

Giant pandas Ping Ping and Fu Shuang made their public debut at Zoo Atlanta, where they will live on loan from China for the next 10 years. Their arrival renews a long-running partnership and illustrates how panda loans can support international ties.

The male and female, both born in 2020, arrived from Chengdu in September on a flight nicknamed the “Panda Express”. The zoo renovated their habitat and arranged a local bamboo supply; it previously hosted pandas from 1999 until 2024, with seven cubs born there. Around 1,800 pandas are estimated to live in the wild, and the species is now classified as vulnerable, with habitat loss and poaching among its threats.