Giant pandas are coming back to Zoo Atlanta. The zoo announced on April 23, 2026 that a new International Cooperative Research Agreement on Giant Panda Conservation has been initiated between Zoo Atlanta and the China Wildlife Conservation Association.
The two bears named in the agreement are Ping Ping, a male, and Fu Shuang, a female. Both were born at the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding in China.
“Zoo Atlanta is delighted and honored to yet again be trusted as stewards of this treasured species and to partner with the China Wildlife Conservation Association on the continued conservation and research efforts that are the most important outcomes of this cooperation,” said Raymond B. King, President and CEO. “We can’t wait to meet Ping Ping and Fu Shuang and to welcome our Members, guests, city, and community back to the wonder and joy of giant pandas.”
Twenty-five years and seven cubs
Zoo Atlanta’s first panda agreement with China began in 1999 and concluded in 2024. Across those 25 years the original pair, Lun Lun and Yang Yang, produced seven offspring between 2006 and 2016, including two sets of twins that the zoo reared successfully.
Lun Lun, Yang Yang and their two youngest offspring, Ya Lun and Xi Lun, left Atlanta for the Chengdu Research Base in October 2024. The pair’s first five offspring were already living there.
The zoo describes the arrangement as a long collaboration and information exchange with colleagues in China on the care, study and conservation of the species. Its conservation support has gone toward habitat restoration, nature reserve management and ranger support.
The picture in the wild
Giant pandas are classified as Vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
According to Zoo Atlanta, the Chinese government has invested heavily in restoring and protecting wild panda habitat and has gradually established 67 giant panda reserves. In 2021 it built a habitat protection system around the Giant Panda National Park, which improved the connectivity and integrity of that habitat. Seventy-two percent of wild giant pandas are now strictly protected.
What happens next
Zoo Atlanta has not announced an arrival date for Ping Ping and Fu Shuang. The zoo said it will make future announcements with further information about the two bears.
Preparation for their arrival started well before the agreement did. Zoo Atlanta began preliminary design work on an expansion of the Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation Giant Panda Conservation Center in February 2025, more than a year ahead of this announcement, in anticipation of exactly this kind of deal.
