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Memphis Zoo Says Goodbye to Beloved Giant Panda

Ya Ya will return to China at the end of the month, ending her 20-year loan to the zoo.

Ya Ya rests on a rock in the Memphis Zoo.

Karen Pulfer Focht/Reuters

By Katie Hawkinson

The beloved giant panda Ya Ya said her final farewells to caretakers and adoring fans Saturday as she prepares to depart the Memphis Zoo and return to China. Her goodbye party marks the end of her twenty-year loan to the zoo. Ya Ya, born in 2000, arrived to Tennessee in 2003 with her companion Le Le, who died in February. The two pandas were critical for research and conservation projects during their stay, a spokesperson for the zoo told the Associated Press.

Read it at Associated Press

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