Atlanta (United States) (AFP) – Two giant pandas on loan from China delighted visitors to a zoo in Atlanta this Friday, during their public debut while they ate bamboo and rested in their new habitat in the United States.

First modification: 11/09/2026 - 12:15

A male named Ping Ping and a female named Fu Shuang arrived from Chengdu in September on a FedEx flight nicknamed the "Panda Express."

The animals will be housed in these facilities in the American South for the next 10 years.

Pandas are "animals that have a unique ability to spark curiosity, instill passion, evoke joy and unite people around the world," Zoo Atlanta CEO Raymond King told attendees.

In preparation for the arrival of the pandas, the zoo renovated its facilities dedicated to these furry animals and trained a team of keepers.

A stable, long-term supply of bamboo was also secured, grown directly in Atlanta, which has a very similar climate to Chengdu.

"I think they inspire happiness," zoo visitor Rachel Totts told AFP on Friday. "They make people smile. I've never seen anyone who doesn't say, 'Oh, that's cute!' when he's looking at a panda."

Pandas and diplomacy

Native to the temperate forests of East Asia, these clumsy and charming black and white mammals do not usually travel long distances.

But many have been sent to zoos around the world as part of the "panda diplomacy" program that Beijing has been promoting for decades to foster ties with the outside world.

This show of "soft power" coincided with senior US officials' call on Friday for China to honor the October 2025 trade deal between US President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping.

The agreement calmed tensions after a flurry of tariff increases and required China to buy American soybeans while suspending export controls on rare earths.

Before 2016, pandas were considered endangered, but they are now classified as "vulnerable" by wildlife advocates, and an estimated 1,800 pandas live in the wild.

The Chinese government has established more than 50 panda reserves for conservation, but in the wild the bears still face threats from habitat loss and poaching.

Atlanta had previously housed pandas on loan from China since 1999, and seven cubs were born at the zoo. They are all now back in Chengdu, and Zoo Atlanta has been without pandas since 2024.

In 1972, China gave a pair of pandas to Washington following the historic visit of then-US President Richard Nixon to the communist nation.

Beijing withdrew two of its pandas from Japan earlier this year, following a diplomatic row that began when the Japanese prime minister hinted that Tokyo could intervene militarily in the event of an attack on Taiwan.

© 2026 AFP

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