Zoo Atlanta

Take a look at Ping Ping’s and Fu Shuang’s landing and travels to Zoo Atlanta this morning! (Video courtesy of FedEx)

FedEx Panda Move - China to Atlanta Zoo 9.27.26 This is "FedEx Panda Move - China to Atlanta Zoo 9.27.26" by FedEx on Vimeo, the home for high quality videos and the people who love them.

Thrilling news: The giant pandas have landed! Zoo Atlanta is overjoyed to announce that giant pandas Ping Ping and Fu Shuang have arrived in Atlanta. They’re not yet visible – but we can’t wait to introduce them to you as we usher in a new era for Atlanta pandas!

The pandas arrived at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport this morning via a dedicated “FedEx Panda Express” Boeing 777 aircraft. FedEx generously donated the transportation.

The pandas are in Atlanta through a new International Cooperative Research Agreement on Giant Panda Conservation initiated between Zoo Atlanta and the China Wildlife Conservation Association. Zoo Atlanta is now one of three zoos in the U.S. to house giant pandas and is the only zoological organization in the Southeast the species will call home.

“This is a thrilling day for Zoo Atlanta and a historic moment for the City of Atlanta, the state of Georgia, and beyond,” said Raymond B. King, President and CEO. “We are elated to welcome Ping Ping and Fu Shuang and could not be more excited about sharing that joy with our Members, guests, city, and community in the coming weeks. Zoo Atlanta is honored to partner with the China Wildlife Conservation Association to see important work continue toward the conservation of giant pandas, which is the most important benefit of guarding this species.”

About Ping Ping and Fu Shuang

Male Ping Ping and female Fu Shuang (pronounced Foo Shwong) were born in China at the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding on March 17, 2020, and October 18, 2020, respectively.

Ping Ping’s name is part of a name given at birth to him and his twin brother, representing a blessing for a smooth and healthy life. Fu Shuang’s name comes from “Fu Lu,” a reference to her and her mother and meaning “happiness”.

What happens next?

Ping Ping and Fu Shuang are not yet visible. The bears will be housed in a biosecure area of Zoo Atlanta’s new giant panda complex for a routine quarantine period of around a month. Zoo Atlanta will make exciting future announcements about the new arrivals, including the name of their new home, design details of their expanded habitat, and the date when Members and guests can expect to see them.

A continuing history of conservation partnership

Once classified as Endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), giant pandas were reclassified to Vulnerable in 2016. Of nearly 1,900 giant pandas remaining in the wild, 72% are strictly protected on nature reserves. Dating to the 1990s when Zoo Atlanta initiated the first round of giant panda conservation cooperation with the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding as its Signature Partner, support from the Zoo has benefited habitat restoration, nature reserve management, and ranger support in China. At the same time, mutually beneficial outcomes have been witnessed in fields of rare and endangered species conservation and breeding, scientific research, and public education while fostering friendship between the peoples of the two countries.

The Chinese government has invested a significant amount of human, material, and financial resources to continuously strengthen the restoration and protection of wild giant panda habitat and has gradually established 67 giant panda reserves. In 2021, with the newly established Giant Panda National Park as the mainstay, a holistic habitat protection system at the national level took shape to further improve the connectivity, coordination, and integrity of giant panda habitat.

A new era for a source of Atlanta pride

Zoo Atlanta’s original giant panda agreement with China, originated in 1999 and concluded in 2024, resulted in a highly productive 25 years of partnership, with seven offspring born to the pair Lun Lun and Yang Yang between 2006 and 2016. Lun Lun, Yang Yang, and their two youngest offspring, Ya Lun and Xi Lun, departed Atlanta for the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding in October 2024; the pair’s first five offspring also reside there.

In addition to these accomplishments, which included the successful rearing of two sets of twins, Zoo Atlanta’s partnership with colleagues in China forged a longtime history of collaboration and information exchange toward shared goals of the professional care of pandas and science benefiting the species.

Photo courtesy of FedEx

Sixteen African hornbills from zoos around the world have competed tournament-style to be crowned Hornbill of the Year—and Zoo Atlanta's very own Zazu has officially made it to the semi-finals!

Help Zazu win! Vote for her by donating $5 per vote using the link below and help cheer her on to victory! Proceeds will benefit AZA African Hornbill SAFE.
https://www.battleofthehornbills.org/

photo: Bird Team

Bisbee the Gila monster is turning 40 years old!

He hatched at Zoo Atlanta on September 25, 1986, where he lived in the old reptile house and moved to Scaly Slimy Spectacular when the new building opened in 2016.

Bisbee lives in Scaly Slimy Spectacular in Habitat #28 near the Alligator Snapping Turtle Habitat. Bisbee is a Herpetology Team favorite with a beautiful orange and black pattern and a laidback personality. He spends most of his time on the left side of his habitat in the rock cave with just his tail sticking out unless there happens to be food involved. Bisbee is an enthusiastic eater and has a fat tail to show for it. He is fed once per week, typically during our Gila Monster Keeper Talk on Fridays, and lives with a younger female Gila monster and a common chuckwalla.

Come celebrate Bisbee's big day with us during the Gila Monster Keeper Talk on Friday, September 25 at 1 p.m.!

The secret life of keeper pockets.

Laundry day. My most dreaded day of the week. There are very few things that can make it enjoyable. But when you work as an Animal Care Specialist, even something as ordinary as doing laundry can become an adventure. Work clothes get their own special laundry basket—and let me tell you why.

Come along with me, Senior Bird Keeper Kelsey M., as I walk you through laundry day as an Animal Care Specialist.

Keepers are known for their cargo pants, and there’s a reason why this stereotype rings true throughout the animal care field: pockets! When you spend your days maintaining habitats, training animals, and facilitating the breeding of many different species, every pocket is valuable real estate.

When you’re halfway up a 12-foot ladder with a drill in one hand and a perch in the other, having screws and washers conveniently within reach is a must. Just don’t forget to take them out before you head home. I learned the hard way that a single-three-inch screw can blow up your dryer.

Working with birds means I must have snacks on me ALL the time. No, not for me, unfortunately. I can find those snacks overflowing on our office table or in the always-refreshed cake container in the fridge. (Thanks Uncle James and Auntie Lauren!) The snacks in my pockets are for the hundreds of birds we take care of at Zoo Atlanta. If a bird does something I want to reinforce, I don’t want to find myself empty handed. Land on the scale? Pocket treat! Go through the shift door when called? Pocket treat! Target? You guessed it. Pocket treat.

Now, it sounds like my pockets should be emptied out by now, right? Not necessarily. Sometimes, our little feathered friends don’t do the behaviors we ask of them. And that’s OK! That little treat just goes back in the pocket. (Don’t worry, we’ll try again later).

It’s also important to leave some pocket space open because you’ll never know what you’ll need the space for throughout the day. If you see someone walking through the Zoo with golf balls in their pockets, it’s probably me! And I promise you, I have never—and will never—play a single round of golf in my life.

But dummy eggs? Those are in my wheelhouse. Once a bird is finished incubating their dummy eggs, I gather them up and distribute them throughout several pockets. Our white-faced whistling ducks have had up to 15 eggs at once before! That’s a lot of pocket real estate.

And then there are the things we simply forget we put in there.

I asked my team about some of the strangest things they’ve found in their pockets after they got home. The list included frozen mice, syringes, medication bottles, a ½C measuring cup, and f***l collectors (full f***l collectors, might I add).

So, laundry day can be a bit of a scavenger hunt when you spend your days taking care of birds at the Zoo. As you can imagine, I have learned to thoroughly check my pockets before running any load of laundry. Ever washed and dried a frozen mouse before? Fortunately, I haven’t either, but I might know a guy, and the results aren’t great.

So, the next time you see a keeper sporting a pair of cargo pants, just remember: Those pockets are doing a lot more work than you might think.

Kelsey M.
Senior Keeper, Bird Team

Meet the faces behind the care!
Welcome to our all-new Series! Throughout the year, you'll get to meet team members from different departments across the Zoo and go behind the scenes to see what their day-to-day work is really like!

Today, our Ambassador Animals Team is taking over our Stories to give you a behind-the-scenes look at life as a Zoo Atlanta Animal Care Specialist. Swipe through to meet some of the incredible people who care for the animals you know and love every day.

Be sure to follow along in our Stories throughout the day for exclusive behind-the-scenes moments, keeper insights, and plenty of animal content. Make sure to stay tuned later today for a Day in the Life Reel featuring even more from their daily routines!

Zoo Atlanta will close early tomorrow, Sept. 19 for Sippin’ Safari presented by PNC Bank. Gates will close at 1:30 p.m. and grounds will close at 3 p.m. Haven't snagged your tickets yet? Grab them at the link before they're gone!

https://zooatlanta.org/event/sippin-safari/