Pandas fly home after kidney failure diagnosis

TWO giant pandas were flying 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.

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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 on 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.