Pandas arrive at Atlanta CCTV explains quarantine

Sep 27

CCTV reports Ping Ping and Fu Shuang arriving at Atlanta International Airport on September 27 and moving to Zoo Atlanta for about a month of routine quarantine. Chinese veterinarians and keepers will remain for three months to support their care, adjustment and behavioural training. Two selected residents express anticipation of visiting; one hopes to come in a month, which is not a confirmed public-opening date. The report identifies the male and female pandas as born in 2020.

Ping Ping and Fu Shuang arrive in Atlanta on the morning of September 27 after a roughly 16-hour, 8,000-mile flight from China on the FedEx Panda Express. ABC follows the approximately six-year-old pandas through pre-departure quarantine, protective handling, loading, a farewell ceremony and arrival under a Zoo Atlanta–China Wildlife Conservation Association agreement. They enter about 30 days of quarantine at Zoo Atlanta. The renovated habitat's public debut is expected in coming weeks when staff judge the pandas ready; arrival is not a public opening. CCTV's earlier September 27 bulletin follows departure from Chengdu Shuangliu for a planned ten-year stay, with a Chinese transport plan and accompanying U.S. veterinarians and keepers. An Atlanta representative anticipates their arrival and joint research with the Chengdu breeding base. CCTV reports over twenty years of cooperation and seven surviving cubs from five litters, which it calls the best result among China's international breeding partnerships with Europe and North America. Its departure-stage account does not itself establish arrival, quarantine completion or public opening; ABC's later arrival report supplies the subsequent stage. CCTV's September 28 follow-up confirms the September 27 Atlanta arrival and roughly one month of quarantine. It says Chinese veterinarians and keepers will stay for three months to support quarantine, adjustment to stress and behavioral training. Two residents express anticipation of visiting once the pandas are ready. Their expectation of a visit in a month is not a confirmed public-opening date.