It’s time for Huan Huan and Yuan Zi, the star panda couple who arrived at Beauval Zoo in Loir-et-Cher (France) in 2012, to return to China. A journey under close supervision.
Housed at the Beauval Zoo since 2012, much to the delight of visitors, the pandas were scheduled to leave in January 2027.
However, the health of the 17-year-old female, Huan Huan, who suffers from kidney failure, led Chinese authorities to organize their departure as early as November 25th, returning the pair to the Chengdu Conservation Center in China.
Since their arrival in France in early 2012, these two pandas have been a great success with the public, who flocked to Beauval Zoo (two million visitors in 2023).
The pandas, a national emblem of the Middle Kingdom and a major instrument of Chinese diplomacy, were in fact only leased to France and remain the property of the Chinese state.