The newest pandas in the US have arrived in Atlanta. What we know about Ping Ping and Fu Shuang

Two giant pandas landed in Atlanta, tasked with pairing up to help ensure their species’ survival on Earth.

A lot weighs on the bears — a 6-year-old male named Ping Ping and a 5-year-old female named Fu Shuang — who arrived at Zoo Atlanta on Sunday. Both are part of Beijing’s long tradition of “panda diplomacy,” as the US and China face off over trade and an AI race that has some experts sounding existential alarm bells .

During their time at Atlanta’s zoo, the pair is meant to breed to boost panda populations, which are considered vulnerable by conservationists.

Questions remain over whether Fu Shuang will be impressed by what Chinese officials describe as Ping Ping’s exceptional tree-climbing, or whether he‘ll like the tuft of fur on the top of her head. It’s also unclear whether the bears will help ease tensions between the two global superpowers.

Here’s what we know about the pandas.

Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding

Ping Ping and Fu Shuang began their 8,000-mile journey in the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding, the largest panda breeding facility in China. To prepare for their big move, the bears quarantined for a month, research base officials said. They also trained for the long flight, as they had to get used to their crates and loud noises.

Early Sunday morning local time in Sichuan province, they embarked on the 16-hour journey, arriving at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport via a Boeing 777 dubbed the “FedEx Panda Express.”

The pandas traveled in custom-built crates and were the plane’s sole cargo, “accompanied only by fresh bamboo, water and an assortment of their favorite treats,” FedEx said in a statement .

They were then transported on FedEx trucks emblazoned with images of pandas with a police escort through metro Atlanta to their final destination at the zoo.

Inside Zoo Atlanta, located in Grant Park, a banner displayed said, “The future home of Ping Ping and Fu Shuang.” Nearby, Ollie’s Market and Deli had a chalkboard sign welcoming the pandas in Chinese and English.

But visitors will have to wait to officially meet the pair. The pandas will undergo routine quarantine inside a biosecure area of Zoo Atlanta’s new giant panda complex for about a month.

Atlanta’s zoo is now just one of three US facilities that currently house giant pandas. Two pandas arrived in San Diego in June 2024, the first time China had loaned new pandas to the US in more than two decades. A second pair were sent to Washington’s National Zoo later that year.

Atlanta, the sprawling southern metropolis, is used to serving as a temporary home for the rare black-and-white bears.

In 2024, Zoo Atlanta returned four pandas who had lived at the zoo back to China, marking the end of a 25-year agreement between the zoo and China. Zoo Atlanta in April announced the updated agreement that brought Ping Ping and Fu Shuang to the city.

On Sunday, Atlanta residents Katy and Zach Justice told CNN they had seen the previous panda family before at the zoo. Now, the couple is excited to introduce their young child to the new pandas.

“I think it’ll be really cool for her to be able to look back and see pictures of her with the pandas,” Zach said. “As a family, we’re excited anytime we get to show our baby new experiences.”

Ping Ping, meaning “peace,” and Fu Shuang, meaning “double blessings,” follow a long line of pandas used as a fluffy diplomatic tool of China’s for more than half a century.

The number of pandas in the US can be indicative of the country’s current relationship with China. While now six bears live in US zoos nationwide, the number is not near the all-time high of 15 pandas about a decade ago.

Kylie Cooper/Reuters

Ping Ping and Fu Shuang landed just a day after Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s state visit to Washington. Xi and President Donald Trump met to address rising tensions between the two superpowers. The two leaders extended a trade truce and agreed to establish an AI hotline between the two countries.

Speaking Thursday, Xi said the panda had been an “envoy of friendship” between China and the US, nodding to the half-century since pandas have lived in US zoos on loan from the Chinese government.

Host institutions typically pay an annual fee of $1 million for a pair of pandas, according to a 2022 Congressional Research Service analysis . The agreements also require China to direct funds toward conservation efforts.

The pandas will be on loan to the Atlanta zoo for 10 years, according to Xinhua, China’s state news agency.

The pandas and their offspring belong to China, where they’re expected to eventually return.

Giant pandas once roamed vast swaths of China, northern Myanmar and Vietnam, but their habitats shrank due to human encroachment and climate change. Today, about 1,900 wild pandas live in just six mountain ranges above the Sichuan basin.

Their population is slowly growing, thanks in part to conservation efforts. Once designated as “endangered,” pandas were reclassified as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature in 2016.

The Chengdu panda breeding research base houses about 240 pandas, about a third of the global panda population in captivity.

Pandas are famously difficult to breed in captivity , so even one birth is cause for celebration. The bears, which are normally solitary creatures, can be picky when choosing mates, and females are only in heat for one to three days each year.

Zookeepers selected Ping Ping and Fu Shuang for their age, health, genetics and personality. Li Mingxi, the park’s deputy director, told Chinese state broadcaster CCTV that they should “like each other, and hopefully be able to mate naturally.”

While the public eagerly waits to meet Atlanta’s new pandas, US zookeepers will work to make sure their transition in their new home goes well in hopes of eventually growing a family. The pair will have to get to know each other first.

CNN’s Rafael Romo, David Culver, Mike Valerio, Chris Boyette, Xiaoqian Lin, Farida Elsebai, Rebekah Riess, Mitchell McCluskey and Shawn Nottingham contributed to this report.

两只大熊猫抵达亚特兰大，它们的任务是结对互助，以确保其物种在地球上的生存。

周日抵达亚特兰大动物园的两只熊猫——一只名叫平平的6岁雄性熊猫和一只名叫福爽的5岁雌性熊猫——肩负着重大的责任。它们都是北京“熊猫外交”悠久传统的一部分，而此时中美两国正就贸易和人工智能竞赛展开博弈，一些专家甚至对这场竞赛敲响了生存危机的警钟。

这对熊猫在亚特兰大动物园期间，将进行繁殖以增加熊猫的数量，熊猫被自然保护主义者认为是易危物种。

人们不禁要问，傅爽是否会被中国官员口中平平非凡的爬树能力所折服，或者他是否会喜欢平平头顶上的那撮毛。此外，这两只熊能否有助于缓解中美两大超级大国之间的紧张关系，目前也尚不明朗。

以下是我们对熊猫的了解。

成都大熊猫繁育研究基地

平平和福爽从中国最大的熊猫繁育基地——成都大熊猫繁育研究基地开始了它们长达8000英里的旅程。研究基地官员表示，为了做好长途迁徙的准备，这两只熊猫进行了为期一个月的隔离检疫。它们还接受了长途飞行训练，因为它们需要适应笼子和嘈杂的环境。

四川当地时间周日清晨，他们开始了长达 16 小时的旅程，乘坐一架被称为“联邦快递熊猫快车”的波音 777 抵达哈茨菲尔德-杰克逊亚特兰大国际机场。

联邦快递在一份声明中表示，熊猫们被装在特制的箱子里运输，是飞机上唯一的货物，“只携带了新鲜的竹子、水和它们最喜欢的各种零食”。

随后，它们被装上印有熊猫图案的联邦快递卡车，在警车护送下穿过亚特兰大市区，最终抵达动物园。

在位于格兰特公园的亚特兰大动物园内，挂着一条横幅，上面写着“平平和福爽未来的家”。附近的奥利超市和熟食店也挂着一块黑板，用中英文欢迎熊猫的到来。

但游客们还得等一段时间才能正式见到这对熊猫。它们将在亚特兰大动物园新建的大熊猫馆的生物安全区域内进行大约一个月的例行隔离检疫。

亚特兰大动物园现在是美国仅有的三家饲养大熊猫的机构之一。2024年6月，两只大熊猫抵达圣地亚哥，这是二十多年来中国首次向美国出借新的大熊猫。同年晚些时候，第二对大熊猫被送往华盛顿国家动物园。

亚特兰大是南部一座幅员辽阔的大都市，它经常作为珍稀黑白熊的临时家园。

2024年，亚特兰大动物园将四只曾生活在园内的熊猫送回中国，标志着该动物园与中国之间长达25年的协议结束。今年4月，亚特兰大动物园宣布了更新后的协议，将“平平”和“福爽”带回了这座城市。

周日，亚特兰大居民凯蒂和扎克·贾斯蒂斯夫妇告诉CNN，他们之前在动物园见过那对熊猫一家。现在，这对夫妇非常兴奋地准备带他们的孩子去见见新来的熊猫。

“我觉得她以后能看到自己和熊猫的合影一定会很酷，”扎克说。“我们全家都很高兴能让宝宝体验新的事物。”

“平平”意为“和平”，“福双”意为“双喜”，延续了中国半个多世纪以来作为毛茸茸的外交工具的熊猫传统。

美国熊猫的数量可以反映出美国与中国目前的双边关系。虽然现在全美动物园里共有六只熊猫，但这个数字远不及十年前15只的历史最高水平。

凯莉·库珀/路透社

平平和傅爽在中国国家主席习近平对华盛顿进行国事访问的第二天抵达华盛顿。习近平主席与美国总统唐纳德·特朗普会晤，讨论了中美两大超级大国之间日益紧张的关系。两国领导人延长了贸易休战期，并同意在两国之间建立人工智能热线。

习近平周四表示，熊猫一直是中美之间的“友谊使者”，他指的是自中国政府将熊猫租借到美国动物园以来，熊猫已经生活了半个世纪。

根据美国国会研究服务处2022年的一项分析，接收机构通常每年需为一对大熊猫支付100万美元的费用。这些协议还要求中国将资金用于保护工作。

据中国官方通讯社新华社报道，这批熊猫将租借给亚特兰大动物园，租期为10年。

熊猫及其后代属于中国，预计它们最终会返回中国。

大熊猫曾广泛分布于中国、缅甸北部和越南的广大地区，但由于人类活动和气候变化，它们的栖息地不断缩小。如今，大约1900只野生大熊猫仅生活在四川盆地上方的六座山脉中。

由于保护工作的开展，它们的数量正在缓慢增长。大熊猫曾被列为“濒危”物种，但在2016年被国际自然保护联盟重新归类为“易危”物种。

成都大熊猫繁育研究基地饲养着约240只大熊猫，约占全球圈养大熊猫总数的三分之一。

众所周知，熊猫在圈养环境下繁殖非常困难，因此即使只有一只幼崽出生也值得庆祝。熊猫通常是独居动物，它们在选择配偶时非常挑剔，而且雌性熊猫每年只有一到三天的发情期。

动物园管理员根据年龄、健康状况、基因和性格选择了萍萍和福爽。动物园副园长李明喜告诉中国中央电视台，它们应该“彼此喜欢，希望能够自然交配”。

公众翘首以盼亚特兰大动物园新来的熊猫宝宝们，而美国动物园的饲养员们则将努力确保它们在新家顺利适应，希望它们最终能够繁衍后代。这对熊猫宝宝首先需要彼此熟悉。

CNN 的 Rafael Romo、David Culver、Mike Valerio、Chris Boyette、Xiaoqian Lin、Farida Elsebai、Rebekah Riess、Mitchell McCluskey 和 Shawn Nottingham 对本报道亦有贡献。