The first giant panda to have been born on French soil departs from the country’s Beauval Zoo to China

Yuan Meng, the first giant panda born in France at Beauval Zoo, received a heartfelt farewell as he departed on Tuesday morning from the zoo located in the Loire region. The male panda is set to make a long-haul flight from Paris, the French capital, to Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province in China.

Born in August 2017, Yuan Meng’s name translates to “dream come true” in Mandarin. Ahead of his departure, emotional goodbyes were exchanged, with tears in the eyes of the keepers bidding farewell to the panda as he said goodbye to his parents and sisters.

Before leaving, hundreds of people gathered outside the zoo to witness Yuan Meng’s final breakfast of bamboo stalks, which took place in the presence of the Chinese Ambassador to France, Lu Shaye, and the CEO of ZooParc de Beauval, Rodolphe Delord. As the truck carrying the six-year-old panda slowly passed by the crowd, many waved flags and expressed their sadness at his departure.

Despite the emotional parting, visitors understood that it was for the good of the species. Yuan Meng left the zoo at around 9:00 am local time and was driven to Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris under police escort. He was scheduled to take a special flight by China Airlines at 5:00 pm local time, with the journey lasting approximately 12 hours, during which caretakers Delphine Pouvreau and veterinarian Antoine Leclerc would provide him with bamboo and water.

Yuan Meng is the son of Yuan Zi and Huan Huan, pandas loaned to France by China in 2012. The Chinese authorities practice “panda diplomacy” by lending pandas to other countries, and any offspring born abroad are usually returned to China to join the breeding program.

Once in Chengdu, Yuan Meng will be sent to a panda reproduction center as part of China’s policy for loaned pandas. The giant panda is classified as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), and efforts are made to strengthen conservation and diplomatic ties through such exchanges.

The World Wide Fund (WWF) estimates that around 1,860 giant pandas remain in the wild, primarily found in the bamboo forests of the Chinese mountains, while approximately 600 are in captivity across various panda centers, zoos, and wildlife parks worldwide.