Yuan Meng, the first panda born in France, leaves the zoological park of Beauval to join China, this Tuesday July 25. A departure planned for a long time and several times postponed.
Beauval zoo says goodbye to one of these stars. The panda Yuan Meng, the first of its species to be born in France, leaves the park and flies to China on Tuesday July 25. The farewells were heartbreaking for the visitors who came to see the black and white bear one last time. It must be said that since its birth in August 2017 in Saint-Aignan, in the Loir-et-Cher, the panda has been the mascot of the park and seeing it has until now been the objective of most visitors.
But this departure should not hurt the French. In addition to being planned since birth, Yuan Meng’s trip to China is beneficial for the protection of the species. And to those who regret not being able to see the panda anymore, the Chinese ambassador to France, Lu Shaye, recalled from Beauval Zoo: “Don’t be sad, we still have four and I hope that maybe in a year, two or three years there will be even more new pandas.”
Why is the panda Yuan Meng leaving Beauval Zoo?
All the pandas of the Beauval zoo if they live in France still belong to China. And this partnership between the two countries means that the pandas born in the animal park must one day or another fly to the Middle Country. In addition to diplomatic agreements, the future of the hope also justifies the transfer of the panda: the future of the species.
For the six-year-old panda, “it’s time [de rentrer] in China to be able to reproduce with a female who is not related to him”, explained the CEO of the zoo of Beauval, Rodolphe Delord adding that “what matters most to us is the conservation of the species, it is genetic diversity”.
If the departure of the panda of which Brigitte Macron is the godmother is difficult for the staff of the park, the caretaker of the bear, Delphine Pouvreau, is not worried about the care that will be given to him in China. “He’s still going back to the panda kingdom. The Chinese are panda specialists, they’re the ones who really taught us this job. So of course he’s going to be disturbed, but in the end it’s going to be good for him too,” she told BFM TV.
The departure of the panda already postponed
The Beauval zoo welcomed the panda longer than expected. Born in 2017, Yuan Meng was initially to stay for the first years of his life before being transferred to China between 2021. “He should have already left, but that was not possible because of the Covid”, explained Rodolphe Delord to the Berry Republican. The French were therefore able to take advantage of the panda star a little more, but the time for departure has arrived. Although it was again postponed for three weeks due to the “delay in certain administrative documents”, the management of the Beauval zoo had indicated in early July.
Panda Yuan Meng’s journey from Franc to China has been planned down to the smallest detail. The animal will take off from Roissy Charles de Gaulle airport, and not from Frankfurt in Germany as was initially planned. On site, he will be transported in a charter plane from Air China from Paris to the Chengdu base, a breeding and breeding center for giant pandas. His carer and a veterinarian from the Beauval zoo will accompany the animal during the twelve hours of the trip.
In addition to this close guard, the panda Yuan Meng will be “escorted by the national gendarmerie to Roissy and he will be in an air-conditioned truck in a large transport box where we have accustomed him to return”, specified the Chinese ambassador in France.
Until when will there be pandas at Beauval Zoo?
Despite the departure of Yuan Meng, four pandas remain residents of Beauval. His parents first: the female Huan Huan and the male Yuan Zi, both of whom have been present at the park since 2012. But also the two youngest of the giant panda family, the twins Huanlili and Yuandudu, whose birth in August 2021 had created the event.
The couple of adult pandas were originally supposed to stay in France for ten years, but their stay in Beauval has been extended by five years. They will therefore be visible at least until 2027 and the CEO of the zoological park hopes that the partnership with China will further extend the duration of the stay of bears in France. On the other hand, the little twins will, like their brother, have to fly to China in the coming years. “Normally, we keep babies until they are four years old”, indicated Rodolphe Delord still at the Berry Republicanwhich presages a departure of the panda sisters in 2025.