The only pair of pandas living in France left Beauval to return to China

“A lot of emotions.” The only pair of giant pandas living in France left the Beauval zoo in Centre-Val de Loire in the early hours of Tuesday, November 25, under the watchful eye of several fans, to return earlier than expected to their native China for medical reasons. The two ursids, Huan Huan and Yuan Zi, aged 17, were placed in two white boxes marked with the inscription “have a nice trip”take turns riding in the truck with their picture. Due to their departure, there are only two pandas left in Beauval, born from their union.

Minutes earlier, the pandas had made their final appearance to ten guards who had come to bid them farewell, through their square Plexiglas window. Some, who had been with them for thirteen years, had wet eyes. The commotion did not seem to bother the plantigrades who were making the journey carrying 180 kilograms of fresh bamboo and several jerry cans of water.

Due to diplomatic issues, the pair, who were loaned by Beijing to France in 2012, left shortly after 5am under police escort for Roissy. The Minister of Ecological Transition, Mathieu Lefèvre, and an official from the Chinese embassy in Paris are scheduled to leave there for a final farewell, before a scheduled take-off at 12:15 p.m.