2 more giant pandas to arrive in California at San Diego Zoo: Here are their names
SAN DIEGO, Calif. -- New details are emerging about a pair of pandas headed from China to San Diego.
According to a release from China's National Forestry and Grassland Administration, a pair of pandas from the Giant Panda Conservation and Research Center at Chengu has been selected for the zoo. Their names are "Yunchuan" (male) and Xinbao (female).
The deal was originally announced in February.
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It has been five years since the San Diego Zoo last had pandas.
Yun Chuan, a nearly five-year-old male panda, who is described as being "mild-mannered, gentle and lovable," has a deep connection with the San Diego Zoo, according to the alliance.
His mother, Zhen Zhen, was born at the San Diego Zoo in 2007 and lived at the facility for 23 years.
The San Diego Zoo will now begin to upgrade enclosures so the animals have a larger living space.
RELATED: San Francisco Zoo to receive giant pandas from China, Mayor Breed announces
Once everything is approved, the two bears could arrive in San Diego by the end of summer.
The news comes more than a week after San Francisco Mayor London Breed announced on April 20, 2024 during an economic trip to China, she signed a letter of intent to bring a pair pandas to the San Francisco Zoo sometime in 2025.
The San Francisco Zoo will have to raise close to $25 million to upgrade a temporary facility for pandas from China, in addition to a permanent habitat. The zoo also has to secure permits at local and federal levels for the enclosures. The zoo would lease the pandas for approximately $1 million per year.
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