Get ready for goodbye: Atlanta pandas likely to return to China as contract expiration looms

Mary Renfroe
·3 min read
Lun Lun is one of four pandas on loan to Zoo Atlanta from China. But the pandas likely will be recalled next year as relations between China and the U.S. have soured in recent years.
Lun Lun is one of four pandas on loan to Zoo Atlanta from China. But the pandas likely will be recalled next year as relations between China and the U.S. have soured in recent years.

As panda loans across the U.S. expire, giant pandas at several zoos, including Memphis, Washington, D.C., and San Diego, are making their return back to China. In less than two months, Zoo Atlanta will possess the last loan and become the only zoo in the nation with giant pandas.

The clock continues to tick on Atlanta’s contract; however, as it is set to expire in 2024.

Currently there are four pandas at Zoo Atlanta − Lun Lun, Yang Yang and their twin offspring Ya Lun and Xi Lun. According to a zoo statement, the 7-year-old twins have always been slated to return to China, same as their siblings before them. While the COVID-19 pandemic delayed their departure, the beloved cubs are now due to ship off next year.

Unfortunately, it does not appear that Zoo Atlanta will receive a loan extension on the twins’ parents Lun Lun and Yang Yang, meaning that they will be recalled in 2024 as well. Their return will mark the first time since 1972 that there will be no pandas in the U.S.

“No discussions have yet taken place with our partners in China as to the status of Zoo Atlanta’s giant panda program beyond the end of the loan in 2024; however, Zoo Atlanta is committed to the long-term stewardship of giant pandas and to the continuation of its valued partnership with the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding and the Chinese Association of Zoological Gardens,” the zoo said in an April statement.

U.S. relations with China are likely to blame for the mass recall of pandas, said Dr. Rongbin Han, associate professor of International Relations at the University of Georgia.

“It is widely acknowledged that the bilateral relations between the U.S. and China have affected pandas in the U.S. (and several other countries), especially in terms of the decision not to renew the lease agreements,” said Han. “The trade war, technological sanctions, disputes on a number of important international topics all suggest that the U.S. and China are clearly not in a honeymoon.”

Ya Lun is one of four pandas on loan to Zoo Atlanta from China. But the pandas likely will be recalled next year as relations between China and the U.S. have soured in recent years.
Ya Lun is one of four pandas on loan to Zoo Atlanta from China. But the pandas likely will be recalled next year as relations between China and the U.S. have soured in recent years.

This trend that some experts are calling “punitive panda diplomacy” extends to other Western countries such as the U.K. and Australia, which are facing similar panda departures. Panda diplomacy, or China’s practice of sending pandas to other countries as a tool of diplomacy, spans 50 years in the U.S., beginning after Nixon’s normalization of relations with China.

“China sees pandas as national treasures and the ambassadors of the nation, and they are only loaned to the friendly countries as a gesture of goodwill and friendship. This is certainly not quite compatible with the animosity between the two countries at this moment,” said Han.

At this time, there is no set date for the Atlanta pandas’ departure. For now, panda lovers can continue to see Lun Lun, Yang Yang, and their cubs at Zoo Atlanta in-person with tickets from zooatlanta.org/tickets or online with the Panda Cam.

This article originally appeared on Augusta Chronicle: Pandas at Atlanta Zoo might soon have to go back to China