SAN DIEGO — The 2 giant pandas have arrived safely in San Diego after traveling from China. Yun Chuan and Xin Bao will now spend their time acclimating to their new home at the San Diego Zoo before they will be able to be seen by the public.
They will live in a private habitat and be closely monitored by the wildlife health team to ensure they are healthy before they are made available to view by the general public in their exhibit. No specific date was given on when the panda exhibit would be opened to the public.
This photogenic pair will be the first set of giant pandas to enter the U.S. in 21 years. This is part of a special conservation agreement between China and the United States, signaling a new era of cooperation between the two countries.
Yun Chuan is an almost five-year-old male. His mother Zhen Zhen was born in 2007 and born at the San Diego Zoo. Xin Bao is a nearly four-year-old female.
Mayor Todd Gloria was part of a special farewell ceremony in China last week for Yun Chuan and Xin Bao, who will soon be coming to America's Finest City.
The San Diego Zoo has not hosted pandas since 2019, when China recalled most of its giant pandas from U.S. zoos over diplomatic tensions at the time.
But times have changed, leading to this new chapter of "Panda-monium."
"I feel like they're such a special animal," said Zoo visitor Lindsey Schantz. "I think everybody really enjoys seeing them. They're just so relatable, and you just feel like you just want to give them a big hug when they're here."
WATCH: Meet the pandas sending San Diego residents into panda-monium: