France says goodbye to star pandas going back to China

Yuan Zi, a male panda, in an enclosure at France's Beauval Zoo, 24 October 2025. © Christian Hartmann/Reuters

Female panda Huan Huan and her partner Yuan Zi are set to return to China on Tuesday, for medical treatment. Their arrival in France 2012 was seen as a sign of warming diplomatic ties between France and China. Twins born to the pair in 2021 will remain at the Beauval zoo for the time being.

More than 200 people braved the cold and rain on Sunday at the Beauval zoo, in central France, to bid farewell to Huan Huan and her partner Yuan Zi, both 17 years old.

The two pandas had been due to stay in France until January 2027, but they are returning early because Huan Huan has kidney failure, a chronic condition common in ageing pandas, which is currently not serious, but the zoo preferred to send her back to China before the condition worsens and she cannot travel.

The pandas, who spent two days in quarantine ahead of their flight, will leave the zoo early Tuesday morning under police protection to Paris’ Charles-de-Gaulle airport, and fly to China, where they will retire in the Chengdu panda sanctuary.

French footballer Kylian Mbappe (L) and Chinese champion diver Zhang Jiaqi (R), the "godparents" of the two panda twins born in August 2021, pose with others during a naming ceremony at the Beauval zoo, 18 November 2021. © Guillaume Souvant/AFP

The pair arrived at the Beauval Zoo in 2012 after years of top-level negotiations between Paris and Beijing, as part of China’s “panda diplomacy”, in which pandas are sent around the world as soft-power ambassadors.

They have contributed to the success of the Beauval zoo, which saw two million visitors in 2023.

Huan Huan gave birth to three cubs – the first to be born in France. The eldest, Yuan Ming, a male, was sent back to China two years ago, but twins born in 2021 will remain at Beauval at least until 2027.

Zoo director Rodolphe Delord said their presence will continue to raise awareness about the need to protect the species. The giant panda was downgraded last year from "endangered" to "vulnerable".

Delphine Pouvreau, a zookeeper, found it hard to hide her emotion on Sunday. "This is the last goodbye with the public. It will be very difficult on Tuesday. All the zookeepers had a strong relationship with them. We experienced the first birth of a baby panda in France here. This memory will remain etched in our hearts!" she said.

(with AFP)