On April 16, 1972 Ling-Ling and Hsing-Hsing, two pandas arrived in their new home in the Washington National Zoo. They have since lived there.

The pandas were very big tourist attractions and the people have grown close to them.

The China Wildlife and Conservation Association and the Washington National Zoo had made an agreement to keep the pandas in Washington for 10 years for research and breeding, but the agreement got extended multiple times and they have been here in the U.S ever since.

In August of 2020 the pandas gave birth to their child Xiao Qi Ji. On November 8, 2023 the pandas’ time to go back to China had come. They loaded up on the FedEx Panda Express – a Boeing 777F aircraft with a custom decal, and began their 19 hour flight to their new home.

With the pandas going home, some are suspecting that China and the US might not be on the best terms since it is seen that China only allows countries they are on good terms with to have pandas.

Now Zoo Atlanta is the only place in the United states where you can go see pandas.