Chinese giant panda Ya Ya leaves Memphis Zoo after 20 years in the US

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A giant panda named Ya Ya left the USA for China on Wednesday, after spending 20 years on the Memphis Zoo in Tennessee.

Ya Ya arrived within the U.S. in 2003, below a 20-year mortgage settlement with the Chinese language Affiliation of Zoological Gardens. She was born in August 2000, within the Chinese capital of Beijing.

Ya Ya was accompanied on the zoo by an enormous panda named Le Le, who died in February at age 25.

Memphis Zoo CEO Matt Thompson has beforehand stated that Le Le and Ya Ya had been “two of probably the most spoiled animals on the planet.”

MEMPHIS ZOO’S GIANT PANDA LE LE DIES AFTER 20 YEARS

Ya Ya eating bamboo

Ya Ya, an enormous panda on the Memphis Zoo, eats bamboo, April 8, 2023, in Memphis, Tenn. Ya Ya started a visit to China April 26 from the Memphis Zoo, the place she has spent the previous 20 years as a part of a mortgage settlement between the zoo and the Chinese language Affiliation of Zoological Gardens. (AP Photograph/Karen Pulfer Focht)

“After 20 years, Ya Ya has develop into like household, and he or she shall be sorely missed by the Memphis Zoo workers and the local people,” Memphis Zoo stated in a press release Wednesday. “We want her the very best of luck in her new residence.”

The Memphis Zoo threw a farewell occasion for Ya Ya earlier this month. The zoo stated the panda’s presence was key to conservation and analysis initiatives.

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Ya Ya with bamboo stick

Feminine big panda Ya Ya is pictured on the Memphis Zoo in Memphis, the USA, April 8, 2023. The Memphis Zoo held a farewell occasion for Ya Ya on Saturday. A whole lot of individuals reportedly attended the sendoff on the CHINA exhibit, the place they stated goodbye to Ya Ya, signed letters, and watched cultural performances.  (Adam/Xinhua through Getty Photographs)

Large pandas can stay as much as 38 years previous in captivity settings. Though advocacy teams akin to In Protection of Animals and Panda Voice have criticized pandas’ zoo enclosures, the common life expectancy of an enormous panda within the wild is just 15 years.

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Large pandas had been as soon as close to extinction however at the moment are thought of weak. There are greater than 1,800 big pandas on the planet.

Kids looking at Ya Ya

Guests attend a farewell occasion for feminine big panda Ya Ya on the Memphis Zoo in Memphis, Tenn., April 8, 2023. (Adam/Xinhua through Getty Photographs)

The Related Press contributed to this report.

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