Ya Ya the Panda Is Going Home

再见，丫丫，祝你好运

Ya Ya the giant Panda, after twenty years in the Memphis Zoo, is going back to China. This week marked the end of a 20-year loan agreement with the Chinese Association of Zoological Gardens, which had loaned Ya Ya to the Tennessee zoo. 

Last week the zoo gave Ya Ya a send-off party attended by 500 visitors, featuring entertainment provided by Chinese cultural performances, and including a giant iced cake for the giant panda, dotted with her favorite foods, sugarcane and grapes.

Ya Ya has had a rough go of it lately. Her longtime male companion Le Le, who had arrived with her at the zoo in 2003, died unexpectedly of heart disease in February. According to the zoo’s website, “Le Le's laid-back personality greatly contrasted Ya Ya's outgoing nature.”

The surviving panda is slightly smaller than the typical giant and she has a chronic skin condition that can make her fur look thin and patchy. Her appearance, closely watched by ardent panda fans in China, has led a lot of people on social media to question the conditions at the zoo.

Last year animal advocacy groups In Defense of Animals and Panda Voices posted videos of the pandas pacing in circles. The groups called for the animals to be “returned to China before it's too late,” claiming that the pandas had lost fur and weight. Zoo officials dismissed the allegation, saying that Ya Ya and Le Le were “two of the most spoiled animals on the planet,” as reported by Associated Press.

Chinese experts have been in Memphis for weeks, preparing Ya Ya for her return to China and assisting zoo staff as they continue to monitor her health. The plan is to fly Ya Ya to Shanghai for a month of quarantine before sending her to live in Beijing Zoo, where she was born.

So long and bon voyage, Ya Ya.