China, US extend ‘panda bond’ as Ping Ping, Fu Shuang set for Zoo Atlanta: China Wildlife Conservation Association

Giant panda Fu Shuang (left) and Ping Ping Photos: The China Wildlife Conservation Association

A new pair of giant pandas from China will travel to Zoo Atlanta under a 10-year international conservation cooperation agreement, extending a "panda bond" between the Chinese and American people that has lasted for more than two decades, which is expected to further boost joint research, biodiversity protection and people-to-people friendship, the China Wildlife Conservation Association said in a release on Friday.

The association signed an international cooperation research agreement on giant panda conservation with Zoo Atlanta in the US last year. Under the agreement, a pair of giant pandas from the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding — male Ping Ping and female Fu Shuang — will travel to the US to begin a 10-year giant panda conservation partnership, continuing the more than 20-year "panda bond" between the Chinese and American people, according to the release.

To ensure the two giant pandas can live healthily and comfortably in the US, the US side has been actively preparing for their arrival, including upgrading and renovating its panda facilities to provide a more suitable and safer environment. Chinese experts have also provided technical guidance on the renovations, setting out standards and requirements for the panda enclosures, facility conditions, husbandry management, food supply, and health care, said the association.

Zoo Atlanta also announced the news on its website. "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," according to a release on its website.

Zoo Atlanta will make future announcements on further information about Ping Ping and Fu Shuang, said the release.

According to the release from the China Wildlife Conservation Association, under the previous cooperation agreement, giant pandas Yang Yang and Lun Lun arrived at Zoo Atlanta in 1999, where they began their stay and successfully produced five litters and seven surviving cubs — the best breeding result achieved in China"s international giant panda cooperation with Europe and the US.

The two sides also carried out cooperation in areas including behavioral training, preventive veterinary medicine, and conservation education, supported by active academic exchanges and fruitful outcomes. These efforts played an important role in advancing giant panda conservation research and technology, promoting the development of panda conservation, and contributing positively to mutual understanding and friendship between the Chinese and American people, said the release.

The new round of China-US international cooperation on giant panda conservation will further promote more achievements in major disease prevention and treatment, disease control, scientific and technological exchanges, support for wild giant panda conservation, and the construction of the Giant Panda National Park. It will also make new contributions to global biodiversity conservation and friendship between the peoples of the two countries.