Atlanta's New Giant Pandas Near the End of Quarantine: New Habitat Debut Set for November
Zoo Atlanta's two newest residents — giant pandas Ping Ping and Fu Shuang — are nearing the end of their quarantine, and the countdown to their November habitat debut has begun. The pair arrived in Atlanta from Chengdu on September 27 aboard a "FedEx Panda Express" flight, restarting Zoo Atlanta's research cooperation with Chinese institutions for a term of at least ten years. Ping Ping is a male, born March 17, 2020, his name meaning a calm and peaceful life; Fu Shuang is a female, born October 18, 2020, her name meaning happiness. After arrival, the two pandas underwent the required quarantine of about a month, and the zoo has been posting updates on social media about how they are settling in: just three days after arrival, the zoo said the two were adapting beyond expectations, eating well, improving every day and trying many new kinds of bamboo and bamboo shoots. Atlanta last had giant pandas before 2024, when Lun Lun and Yang Yang returned to China after 25 years in Atlanta and seven cubs, leaving the zoo's panda habitat empty for two years. The new Arthur M. Blank Giant Panda Habitat will open in November, when visitors will meet Ping Ping and Fu Shuang for the first time. For Atlanta's Chinese community, the pandas' return is not just zoo news but a warm symbol of people-to-people exchange between China and the United States.
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 亚特兰大动物园大熊猫，Wikimedia Commons，CC BY 2.0
