Giant Pandas Ping Ping and Fu Shuang Arrive at Atlanta Zoo via FedEx Cargo Flight

Two giant pandas from China, Ping Ping and Fu Shuang, arrived in the United States on Sunday as part of a government-to-government agreement between the two nations, Zoo Atlanta confirmed. The bears landed at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport aboard a dedicated Boeing 777 operated by FedEx, which served as a specialized “Panda Express” transport.

“This is a thrilling day for Zoo Atlanta and a historic moment for the City of Atlanta, the state of Georgia and beyond,” said Raymond B. King, the zoo’s president and CEO. He expressed the organization’s excitement about welcoming the pandas and sharing the event with community members and guests in the coming weeks.

Visitors will need to exercise patience before seeing the new arrivals. Zoo officials stated that Ping Ping and Fu Shuang will undergo approximately one month of quarantine in a biosecure area within the facility’s new giant panda complex. A specific date for their public debut has not yet been announced.

The arrival follows an announcement made earlier this month during a three-day summit in Washington between Chinese President Xi Jinping and President Donald Trump. President Xi revealed that the pandas would be loaned to Zoo Atlanta, marking one of the few tangible outcomes of the state visit. President Xi described the loan program as a symbol of friendship between the Chinese and American peoples.

Ping Ping and Fu Shuang are both adult pandas born in 2020. They previously resided at the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding. According to Xinhua News Agency, Ping Ping, the male, is characterized by dark black circles around his eyes, while Fu Shuang, the female, has a slightly protruding forehead. They will remain at Zoo Atlanta for a 10-year period under the loan agreement.

Zoo Atlanta has maintained a panda partnership with China for over 25 years. The zoo bid farewell to its previous pandas in 2024, leaving the facility without the iconic bears for the past two years. Although the new agreement was first announced in April, no timeline for the pandas’ arrival had been provided until now.

China has historically utilized giant pandas as instruments of diplomacy, deploying them through loan programs to express goodwill and suspending agreements during periods of diplomatic tension. Currently, the National Zoo and the San Diego Zoo also house pandas that were received from China in 2024.