Overview
- Escorted by police, Huan Huan and Yuan Zi left ZooParc de Beauval before dawn Tuesday for Paris–Charles de Gaulle, with takeoff to Chengdu scheduled around 12:15 local time.
- The 17‑year‑old pair is traveling in climate‑controlled crates with water and roughly 180 kilograms of fresh bamboo for a journey of about 9,000 kilometers.
- Their departure was advanced from 2027 due to Huan Huan’s renal insufficiency, a condition the zoo says is common at this age.
- Their twin daughters, Huanlili and Yuandudu, born in 2021, remain at Beauval at least until January 2027 under the existing agreement.
- Beauval’s director plans talks to extend the panda partnership, and China’s embassy in Paris said new giant pandas will come to France in the future.