San Francisco Zoo to receive pandas from China

SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) — A new animal is coming to the San Francisco Zoo. Mayor London Breed announced Thursday that giant pandas will be added to the zoo as part of China’s Panda Diplomacy program.

Breed is currently overseas in Beijing, where she and Chinese officials announced the news. The memorandum signed by Breed and the China Wildlife Conservation Association is the first official leased agreement to have pandas live at the zoo, according to Breed’s office.

“San Francisco is absolutely thrilled that we will be welcoming Giant Pandas to our San Francisco Zoo,” Breed said. “We have been working closely with our local API community to advocate for pandas nearly a year ago leading up to APEC in November, and it’s an honor that our City has been chosen for the first time to be a long-term home for Giant Pandas.”

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Breed had asked Chinese President Xi Jinping if the zoo could have a panda after the 2023 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperative summit in San Francisco in November. She followed that up with a letter to Xi with the same request.

The zoo has only had pandas for a few months at a time in 1984 and 1985. In 1984, the pandas helped draw more than 260,000 visitors to the zoo, per Breed’s office.

“Having Giant Pandas semi-permanently will be of significant importance to San Francisco’s local Chinese and API communities, as well as the City’s economic and tourism efforts as a major boost to San Francisco’s attractions and offerings,” a press release from Breed’s office said.

Currently, there are no pandas in California. The last giant pandas were sent back to China by the San Diego Zoo in 2019.

There is currently no timeline for the pandas to arrive at the zoo. Engineers from the Beijing Zoo have visited San Francisco to meet with local zoo engineers on the pandas’ enclosures.

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