After 25 years in Atlanta, giant pandas Lun Lun, Yang Yang, Ya Lun and Xi Lun have returned to China. The pandas left their former home at Zoo Atlanta on Oct. 12, boarding a dedicated plane donated by FedEx for their journey.

Zoo Atlanta’s loan agreement with the Chinese Association of Zoological Gardens and Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding was set to expire in October of 2024, prompting the pandas’ departure. Since 1999, the Pandas have been an icon of Zoo Atlanta, and zoo President Raymond King said their journey back to China is filled with sadness, but also gratitude.

“Over the past 25 years, Zoo Atlanta has had the honor and the privilege of introducing millions of guests to these treasured animals,” King said. “We are extremely proud of the accomplishments of our giant panda program and of our commitment to our international partners who are helping us save this species.”

To mark the pandas’ return to China, Zoo Atlanta hosted an event, Panda Palooza, on Oct. 5 for the community to say goodbye. Panda Palooza was attended by over 9,000 people traveling from all over the country.

Earlier this year, Zoo Atlanta became the only place in the country to see pandas, as loans to zoos around the nation ended in recent years and pandas were returned to China. This caused many to travel to Atlanta and flock to the zoo to catch the pandas before they left.

“I visited the zoo a month ago to see the pandas,” Junior Emma Jordan said. “Even though they’re at the back of the zoo, we headed straight over there. I’m actually really sad they’re leaving. That’s the reason I went to the zoo — I saw a news story about it and I knew I had to go see them before they left. They had lots of signs about the pandas leaving soon; they also had these ‘talk-and-learns’ describing their [departure].”

Giant panda Mai Lun was born at Zoo Atlanta in 2006, but now lives at Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding in China, having left Atlanta on Oct. 12 for the Research Base ahead of her parents and siblings. (Courtesy of Popo Fatticus)

Throughout the past 25 years, the pandas have left their mark on Zoo Atlanta and the surrounding community. Through the Zoo’s Live Panda Cams, celebrations of panda cub births at the Zoo and the pandas’ images decorating billboards and posters throughout the city, the pandas had become not only a distinctive element of the zoo, but an icon of the city.

Alongside the pandas’ positive impacts on the community, Zoo Atlanta has taken strides to preserve the animals and researched concepts spanning from the effects of positive reinforcement to the pandas’ vision. They have also contributed over $17 million to conserve the pandas in their natural habitat and has celebrated the birth of seven panda cubs, including two pairs of twins.

These efforts have left a large impact on pandas worldwide, contributing to the removal of giant pandas from the International Union for Conservation of Nature, ICUN’s, list of endangered species. This decision came as a 2016 assessment of the species showed an increase in population and habitat, through efforts of forest protection and reforestation. However, there is still work to be done as pandas’ bamboo supply has come under threat from climate change, leaving the pandas in a vulnerable status.

“A lot has changed for giant pandas on a global scale since Lun Lun and Yang Yang arrived in Atlanta in 1999,” Brooke Fortune, a Zoo Atlanta spokeswoman, said. “Perhaps most notably, in 2016, the IUCN downgraded the giant panda’s status from Endangered to Vulnerable, in the culmination of decades of dedicated efforts across international borders and cooperative partnerships.”