With the San Diego Zoo’s two giant pandas safely back in China, Zoo Atlanta has become a member of an even more exclusive club.
The California zoo’s loan agreement for pandas Bai Yun and Xiao Liwu recently ended and was not extended, leaving Atlanta, the Memphis Zoo, and Washington, D.C.’s Smithsonian National Zoo as the only locations with pandas. Though there are currently tensions over trade between the U.S. and China, the conflicts have no connection to the giant pandas on loan to Atlanta’s zoo, according to Hayley Murphy, deputy director of Zoo Atlanta.
“There have been no changes to our existing giant panda loan agreement,” Muyrphy said. “Zoo Atlanta is very committed to our partnership with China and to the conservation of giant pandas. Plans for all of the giant pandas in the U.S. are ultimately the decisions of our colleagues in China.”
