China Plans to Send New Pandas to the U.S., Signs Agreement with the San Diego Zoo

The San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance sent the of its last giant pandas to China in 2019

• The China Wildlife Conservation Association and the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance (SDZWA) — the nonprofit that operates the San Diego Zoo— recently signed a cooperative agreement for giant panda collaboration

• After signing the agreement, the San Diego Zoo is planning to receive a new pair of pandas as early as this summer

• The San Diego Zoo's last pandas left the park for China in 2019

The San Diego Zoo is preparing for the return of a beloved resident.

China is planning to send a new pair of giant pandas to the California zoo this year, according to NBC News.

The news comes after the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance (SDZWA) — the nonprofit that operates the San Diego Zoo— signed a "cooperative agreement" with the China Wildlife Conservation Association, per a news release from SDWZA. The Thursday release called the move an "important step forward in having giant pandas return to the San Diego Zoo."

San Diego Zoo officials told The Associated Press that if all permits and other requirements are approved, a male and a female bear could be expected to arrive as early as the end of summer. The last pandas to live at the zoo, Bai Yun and Xiao Liwu, returned to China in 2019 after the zoo's panda loan agreement concluded.

Related: WATCH: 13 Precious Panda Cubs Make Their Public Debut at China's Chengdu Research Base

Dr. Megan Owen, the vice president of conservation science at SDZWA, told the outlet that one of the females being considered is a descendant of Bai Yun and Gao Gao, two of the zoo's previous panda residents.

The China Wildlife Conservation Association also reached a panda diplomacy agreement with the Madrid Zoo in Spain. Talks about additional agreements are being held with the National Zoo in Washington D.C. and the Schönbrunn Zoo in Vienna, Austria, Xinhua — China's state-run news agency — reported Thursday, per AP.

"We are humbled by the potential opportunity of continuing our collaborative conservation efforts to secure the future for giant pandas," Dr. Owen said in the SDZWA release. "As such, San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance is taking important steps to ensure we are prepared for a potential return. This includes sharing our detailed conservation plans with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to ensure alignment for the greater benefit of giant pandas."

Related: Giant Panda at Theme Park in South Korea Gives Birth to Country's First Set of Panda Twins

"Pandas in our care and in the care of Chinese colleagues at conservation facilities play an important role as assurance against extinction and loss of genetic diversity in their native habitats, as well as a source population for reintroductions," continued Dr. Owen. "Our partnership over the decades has served as a powerful example of how — when we work together — we can achieve what was once thought to be impossible."

New pandas at the San Diego Zoo would provide a welcome boost to the number of giant pandas in the U.S. In November 2023, three giant pandas departed the National Zoo for Chengdu, China, after the zoo's loan agreement with China ended. It marked the first time the National Zoo had been without pandas since 2000.

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Currently, the four pandas that reside at Zoo Atlanta, which includes 26-year-old Yang Yang, are the only ones left in the U.S. According to AP, the loan agreement for those pandas expires later this year.

According to the WWF, around 1,860 giant pandas remain in the wild today in six isolated mountain ranges in south-central China.

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