Two giant pandas from China have arrived in the United States under a new agreement between the Chinese and American governments, Zoo Atlanta confirmed Sunday.
The zoo said the pandas, Ping Ping and Fu Shuang, landed Sunday morning at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport aboard a specially designated FedEx Panda Express Boeing 777.
“This is a thrilling day for Zoo Atlanta and a historic moment for the City of Atlanta, the state of Georgia and beyond,” Raymond B. King, the zoo’s president and CEO, said in a statement shared on social media. “We are elated to welcome Ping Ping and Fu Shuang and could not be more excited about sharing that joy with our members, guests, city and community in the coming weeks.”
Visitors will not be able to see the giant pandas immediately. Zoo officials said Ping Ping and Fu Shuang will spend about a month in quarantine inside a biosecure area of the wildlife park’s new panda complex. A specific public debut date has not yet been announced.
The arrival follows Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Washington for a three-day summit with President Trump. During the visit, Xi announced that the pandas would be loaned to Zoo Atlanta and were expected to arrive within days. The agreement was among the few concrete outcomes announced during the state visit.
Xu Bingjie/Xinhua via AP
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Zoo Atlanta has maintained a giant panda partnership with China for more than 25 years. The zoo’s previous pandas returned to China in 2024, ending a period without the animals. The new agreement was announced back in April, although officials did not initially provide an arrival date.
Ping Ping and Fu Shuang, both born in 2020, will remain at Zoo Atlanta on a 10-year loan. The adult pandas were raised at the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding. According to the Xinhua News Agency, Ping Ping is identifiable by the dark black rings around his eyes, while Fu Shuang has a slightly prominent forehead.
China has used giant pandas as a diplomatic symbol for decades, sending the animals abroad through loan agreements intended to signal goodwill. Those arrangements have sometimes been allowed to expire as relations between China and other countries have deteriorated.
Xi has described the panda loan program as a reflection of “friendship between the Chinese and Americans.”
Two other U.S. zoos currently have giant pandas. The National Zoo and the San Diego Zoo each received pandas from China in 2024.
