PARIS: Two giant pandas flew home from France to China for retirement on Tuesday, after the female was diagnosed with kidney failure, with a Chinese official pledging new bears would soon replace them.

Huan Huan and her partner Yuan Zi arrived at the Beauval Zoo in central France in 2012 as part of China’s “panda diplomacy” programme, which sees the black-and-white bears dispatched across the globe as soft-power ambassadors.

The two pandas, both 17, were meant to stay in France until January 2027, but they left in a plane on Tuesday to live out their retirement at China’s Chengdu panda sanctuary.

The pair were loaded onto a plane at Paris’s Charles de Gaulle airport, each in their own box dotted with ventilation holes, with the words “Bon voyage” inscribed on the side.

Before they departed, a Chinese embassy official promised new bears would soon be dispatched to make up for the popular pair leaving.

“Rest assured, French friends, new giant pandas will arrive in the future,” said Chinese embassy official Chen Dong.

More than 200 well-wishers had braved the cold and rain on Sunday to say farewell, including one couple dressed head-to-toe in panda-themed gear, who say they have visited the bears “more than a thousand times” since their arrival in 2012.

Patrice Colombel, an electronics technician, and his wife Veronique, an administrative assistant at a secondary school, said they would not have missed the chance to see them off.

Published in Dawn, November 26th, 2025