A pair of giant pandas will soon travel from China to the US, where they will be cared for at the San Diego Zoo as part of an ongoing conservation partnership between the two nations.
The announcement came months after a panda family housed at the Smithsonian National Zoo since 1972 returned to China and just before the Atlanta Zoo's surviving panda family is scheduled to return to China next year.
According to the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, their caregivers visited China to meet the giant pandas, Yun Chuan and Xin Bao, before their planned trip to southern California. The handoff has not yet been assigned a specific date.
The Wildlife Alliance said that Yun Chuan is a well-mannered male who is almost five years old and has deep connections to California. In 2007, his mother, Zhen Zhen, was born at the San Diego Zoo to parents Bai Yun and Gao Gao.
Xin, an almost four-year-old girl, is described as a gentle, witty introvert with a sweet, round face and big ears.
Dr. Megan Owen, the alliance's vice president of conservation science, told the Guardian that although their conservation partners in China shared photographs and personality traits of Yun and Xin, meeting them in person was special.
She added that it is inspiring as people worldwide come together to conserve, protect, and care for these special bears, and they cannot wait to welcome them to San Diego.
According to zoo officials, if all goes as planned, the San Diego Zoo might welcome the new pandas as early as the end of summer this year.
With a nearly 30-year history, the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance has partnered with China's top conservation organizations to protect and restore giant pandas and the bamboo forests that support them.
