Giant panda Ya Ya leaves Memphis Zoo to return to China

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (WMC) - Giant panda Ya Ya is headed back to China.

Ya Ya has spent the last 20 years at the Memphis Zoo along with Le Le, who died earlier this year.

Zoo officials say the process to send Ya Ya back to China began Wednesday. The details of her travel has not been released.

In December, the zoo announced that the pandas would be sent back to China as their loan agreement with the Association of Zoological Gardens was set to end.

Action News 5 covered the pandas’ arrival back in 2003, when they were flown in on a FedEx plane:

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