Panda diplomacy returns as pair of giants travel from China to San Diego

A pair of giant pandas are en route from China to the U.S., destined for the San Diego Zoo as part of a long-standing conservation collaboration between the two countries, officials announced on Wednesday.

San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance representatives attended a farewell ceremony in China to bid goodbye to the giant pandas, Yun Chuan and Xin Bao. The event featured cultural performances, video messages from Chinese and American students, and a gift exchange among conservation partners.

Following the celebration, the pandas began their journey to Southern California. “After the pandas have safely arrived in San Diego, they will not be viewable to the public for several weeks while they acclimate to their new home,” according to a statement from the zoo.

“This farewell celebrates their journey and underscores a collaboration between the United States and China on vital conservation efforts,” stated Paul Baribault, president of the wildlife alliance. “Our long-standing partnership with China Wildlife Conservation Association has been instrumental in advancing giant panda conservation, and we look forward to continuing our work together to ensure the survival and thriving of this iconic species.”

Yun Chuan, a nearly 5-year-old mild-mannered male, has familial ties to California. His mother, Zhen Zhen, was born at the San Diego Zoo in 2007 to parents Bai Yun and Gao Gao. Xin Bao, a nearly 4-year-old female, is described as “a gentle and witty introvert with a sweet round face and big ears.”

The San Diego Zoo sent its last two giant pandas called Bai Yun and Xiao Liwu back to China in 2019.

The San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance has maintained a near 30-year partnership with leading conservation institutions in China, focusing on protecting and recovering giant pandas and the bamboo forests they rely on. “The collaboration has greatly advanced giant panda conservation, leading to the downgrading of the giant panda’s status from Endangered to Vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) in 2016,” said the San Diego Zoo in a statement.

China also promised to send a pair of giant pandas to San Francisco Zoo in late April this year. The pair should arrive at SF Zoo in 2025.

In the past few years, China has been recalling their pandas from American Zoos amid rising tension between the two countries, especially after the Chinese spy balloon incident in January 2023.

For decades, the People’s Republic of China gifted pandas to countries. Two were famously sent to former U.S. President Richard Nixon by Chairman Mao Zedong in 1972 following Nixon’s ice-breaking visit to the Communist country that laid the groundwork for normalized ties seven years later.

From 1984, China switched from gifting pandas to leasing them out. After Xi Jinping’s visit to California in November 2023, U.S. president Joe Biden hinted pandas might be coming back to the United States.