Debut date set for new Zoo Atlanta pandas Ping Ping, Fu Shuang
Zoo Atlanta will introduce its new giant pandas, Ping Ping and Fu Shuang, to the world Nov. 6 in its newly renovated Arthur M. Blank Panda Grove.
The pandas first arrived in Atlanta on Sept. 27 and have been quarantined as they adjust to their new habitat. Ping Ping, the male, is 6. Fu Shuang, the female, turns 6 on Oct. 18.
The zoo returned four pandas to China in 2024 after 25 years with at least two pandas at the zoo at any given time.
In the interim, the zoo spent $6 million upgrading the pandas’ living quarters and the space where they can be seen by visitors.
“Members and guests who recall the original giant panda habitat will know immediately upon entry that they are in for an entirely new experience,” said Raymond B. King, Zoo Atlanta president and chief executive officer since 2010.
The new giant panda dayrooms are bigger than the previous ones, featuring new climbing structures and a pool in each. Their outdoor habitats will also feature new climbing structures. The design, the zoo said, is more contemplative than the previous version.
The pandas are kept in separate spaces since they are solitary creatures by nature.
Zoo Atlanta, which normally opens at 9 a.m. on Fridays, will have a delayed opening Nov. 6. The zoo will announce a specific opening time at a later date, but tickets are already on sale for that day.
The giant pandas’ arrival is part of a new 10-year international cooperative research agreement on giant panda conservation with the China Wildlife Conservation Association.
The original giant pandas at Zoo Atlanta, Lun Lun and Yang Yang, generated seven offspring between 2006 and 2016.
Last month, China’s President Xi Jinping called the pandas an “envoy of friendship” when he announced during his first visit to Washington in a decade that they would be arriving soon, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.
Arthur M. Blank Panda Grove is named in honor of Arthur Blank’s longtime support of Zoo Atlanta’s giant panda program, dating back to 1999 with the arrival of Lun Lun and Yang Yang. The zoo’s first giant panda habitat, the Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation Giant Panda Conservation Center, also bore his name.
Zoo Atlanta is one of just three zoos in North America with giant pandas, along with the San Diego Zoo and the National Zoo in Washington D.C.
The pandas have been a consistent draw for Zoo Atlanta. Attendance, which reached almost 1 million people in 2024, fell below 900,000 last year without the pandas, King said earlier this year. He said he expects attendance will likely exceed 1 million again next year with a full year of pandas.