Beijing: Ya Ya, a giant Chinese panda whose health has come under the spotlight since early March, will return to China in a few days from Memphis Zoo in the United States after spending more than 20 years in the States.
In August 2000, Ya Ya, a female panda, was born at the Beijing Zoo. Ya Ya and Le Le, a male panda from the Shanghai Zoo, were flown to Memphis in April 2003 as part of a cooperation programme between China and the US for the protection and study of giant pandas.
Le Le and Ya Ya would be returned to China in December 2022, bringing to a successful conclusion the 20 years of collaborative research. Le Le, however, tragically passed away in February of this year.
Ya Ya, together with Le Le’s body, will board a home-bound FedEx flight to Shanghai, according to Chinese media reports. It was learned from FedEx that the flight was very likely to take off by the end of April.
The Global Times reported that since the start of 2021, there have been ongoing stories concerning Ya Ya and Le Le’s bad health, along with heartbreaking photographs that have appeared online. Pictures of the malnourished Ya Ya have had a greater impact on the Chinese public since Le Le’s passing, and this has led to numerous netizens begging for Ya Ya’s quick return.
