Beauval Pandas Huan Huan and Yuan Zi to Return to China After Kidney Failure Diagnosis

November return brings forward the pandas' departure

ZooParc de Beauval will send giant pandas Huan Huan and Yuan Zi back to China in November 2025 after veterinarians diagnosed the female, Huan Huan, with kidney failure. The pair, both 17 years old, had been expected to remain at the zoo in central France until January 2027.

The decision brings their planned departure forward by about 14 months. Beauval and its Chinese partners want Huan Huan to travel while her condition is stable, allowing her care to continue at a sanctuary in the Chengdu area with teams experienced in treating older pandas.

Huan Huan is still eating well and behaving normally, according to the park. After consultations with Chinese wildlife authorities and medical teams, Beauval decided that an earlier journey would give her the best opportunity for a carefully managed transition before her health worsens.

Rodolphe Delord, director of ZooParc de Beauval, explained why the zoo chose to bring forward the return:

We prefer to return her to China before her health deteriorates further, though she still shows a good appetite and normal behavior.

Huan Huan will travel with her mate, Yuan Zi. The two arrived from China in 2012 under a conservation and research loan and became some of the best known pandas in Europe. Their departure will close a chapter that brought France its first panda births and helped make Beauval a major destination for visitors.

The zoo will still have pandas after the adults leave. Their twin cubs, Huanlili and Yuandudu, born in 2021, will remain at Beauval for now. Their older brother, Yuan Meng, returned to China in 2024 to take part in breeding and conservation work.

A family that made French zoo history

Huan Huan and Yuan Zi arrived at Beauval after years of negotiations between the French zoo and Chinese authorities. Their presence soon became closely associated with the park in Saint Aignan sur Cher, where visitors gathered for feeding times and keepers' training sessions.

The pandas helped turn the relatively small town into a destination for family trips and school visits. For many visitors, watching the animals eat, move around their enclosures and respond to their keepers offered an introduction to a species whose survival depends on protecting forests far from France.

In 2017, Huan Huan gave birth to Yuan Meng, the first panda born in France. His arrival attracted widespread public interest and encouraged fundraising for conservation. Four years later, Huan Huan delivered twins, Huanlili and Yuandudu, another rare success in captivity that required care throughout the day and night.

The family's time in France has included several milestones:

• 2012: Huan Huan and Yuan Zi arrived at Beauval from China under a conservation and research loan.
• 2017: Yuan Meng became the first panda born in France.
• 2021: Huanlili and Yuandudu were born, bringing the pair's total number of cubs to three.
• 2024: Yuan Meng returned to China for breeding and conservation work.
• November 2025: Huan Huan and Yuan Zi are scheduled to return to China.
• January 2027: The adults' stay in France had previously been expected to end.

Huanlili and Yuandudu have grown into active, curious juveniles. Their stay had been expected to end around 2025, but it is now likely to continue longer while Beauval and its Chinese partners update their plans around the animals' needs and the zoo's education work.

What kidney failure means for Huan Huan

The kidneys remove waste from the blood and help control the body's water and mineral balance. When they lose function, waste and fluid levels become harder to regulate. Kidney failure, often called chronic kidney disease, is common in older carnivores, including bears and big cats.

Animals with kidney problems may drink more, urinate more often, lose weight or become less active. Huan Huan's good appetite and normal behavior are the signs Beauval is watching as it prepares for her transfer. The zoo's aim is to keep her comfortable and stable through the change in surroundings and care.

Veterinary management can include changes to food, careful attention to hydration and medicines to control blood pressure and phosphorus. Phosphorus is one of the minerals the kidneys help regulate. Close monitoring allows teams to adjust care as the animal's condition changes.

The purpose of that treatment is to maintain a good quality of life and reduce the risk of sudden complications. For Huan Huan, the timing of travel is part of that care: the zoo wants the move to happen while she is still eating and following her usual routine.

Beauval's preparations therefore extend beyond arranging a flight. French and Chinese specialists must coordinate medical protocols, food, hydration and quarantine so that responsibility for her care can pass smoothly between teams. The November schedule gives them time to prepare those arrangements and limit disruption.

Why the pair will return to China early

Huan Huan and Yuan Zi had been due to remain at Beauval until January 2027 under an extension agreed as the pandas aged and the zoo invested in their habitat. Huan Huan's diagnosis changed that timetable, leading Beauval and its Chinese partners to choose a return in November 2025.

The planned destination is a panda sanctuary in the Chengdu area of Sichuan province. China has several facilities with extensive experience in caring for older pandas, including access to advanced imaging and medical teams that treat many members of the species each year.

Sichuan's sanctuary network is equipped for complex medical needs and retirement care. Moving Huan Huan there will allow national specialists to support her treatment over the longer term. Yuan Zi will return with her under the coordinated repatriation plan.

The loan agreement also shapes how those decisions are made. Pandas living abroad under these arrangements remain Chinese property, and medical decisions are coordinated with Chinese authorities. Beauval's role is part of a continuing partnership involving institutions and governments, with planning for each stage of the animals' lives.

A clear timetable allows teams to organize staff exchanges, paperwork, transport permits and training for the journey. The early return brings animal welfare, veterinary care and the diplomatic relationship into the same practical task: moving two aging bears with as little stress as possible.

Preparing two pandas for an international journey

Beauval's keepers will prepare Huan Huan and Yuan Zi by encouraging them to enter and rest inside their travel crates before departure. Food rewards and calm, repeated routines help make the unfamiliar boxes feel like a normal part of their surroundings.

The crates will be designed to keep the pandas secure and cool while giving them enough space to sit, stand and lie down. Familiarity matters because the journey will take the animals away from their established enclosures and daily routines.

Before departure, veterinarians will check hydration, blood pressure and stool quality. The team will pack fresh bamboo and biscuits for the itinerary and work on keeping food, water and routine as consistent as possible.

Panda flights are generally arranged to avoid heat and reduce layovers. A veterinarian and experienced keepers travel with the animals, watching their breathing, appetite and behavior. Custom crates allow the team to supervise them throughout transport.

Sedation is avoided where possible, especially for an animal with kidney problems, because some sedatives can affect blood pressure or hydration. Huan Huan's condition makes those considerations part of the planning for her comfort and safety.

After arrival in China, the pandas will enter quarantine before moving to a quiet enclosure at a sanctuary near Chengdu. Their first weeks will focus on rest, familiar food and steady routines. Family contact will be limited to reduce stress, while medical teams carry out follow up tests and adjust treatment.

The planned journey is therefore a transition between care teams as well as a transfer between countries. Preparation in France and monitoring in China are intended to keep Huan Huan's daily life as settled as possible through that change.

The twins will keep a panda presence at Beauval

Huanlili and Yuandudu will remain at Beauval after their parents leave. The zoo says the twins are thriving and will continue to feature in daily education programs about pandas and their habitat.

The twins already live independently of Huan Huan. Panda mothers in the wild separate from their cubs well before the young reach three years old, and Beauval's twins now follow their own routines with keepers. They no longer depend on their mother for food or care.

Their continued stay will allow visitors to see pandas while the zoo prepares to say goodbye to the adult pair. Beauval also plans to use their presence to explain bamboo forests, wildlife corridors and research carried out in panda habitat.

Wildlife corridors connect areas where animals live, helping them move between places that might otherwise become isolated. The twins' role in public programs links the daily experience of seeing pandas at a zoo with the work needed to protect their habitat in China.

No date has been given for the twins' eventual transfer. Any future move will be coordinated with Chinese authorities and international teams, using the same planning and transport protocols applied to adult pandas.

How the conservation loan works

China's panda loans combine conservation research with diplomacy. Under agreements lasting several years, pandas go to accredited zoos abroad while remaining Chinese property. Cubs born overseas also belong to China and typically return several years after they stop depending on their mothers' milk.

Host zoos pay substantial fees that help support habitat protection in China. The partnerships also involve sharing information about breeding, veterinary care and animal behavior, allowing experience gained in different institutions to contribute to conservation work.

Huan Huan and Yuan Zi's three cubs are part of that history at Beauval. Yuan Meng's return to China in 2024 connected the first panda birth in France with breeding and conservation work there. The twins' continued stay maintains the educational part of the partnership in France.

Pandas also serve as symbols of goodwill. Their popularity attracts visitors and draws attention to cooperation between China and the countries hosting them. That diplomatic role sits alongside the daily work of feeding, monitoring and treating the animals.

Beauval hopes to continue its partnership with China beyond 2027 and may welcome pandas again if conditions allow. The zoo's experience caring for Huan Huan and Yuan Zi for more than a decade, including three births, strengthens its case for continued cooperation.

Conservation gains still depend on protecting habitat

Giant pandas are listed as vulnerable on the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List. Their move from endangered status followed gains in the wild population over recent decades, supported by expanded nature reserves, reforestation and a better understanding of their habitat needs.

Those improvements depend on continued protection. Conservation leaders warn that progress can reverse if habitat becomes fragmented or bamboo forests decline. A forest split into smaller, disconnected areas gives pandas fewer connected places to live and feed.

Roads and development can divide mountain habitat into isolated patches. Climate change can also alter bamboo growth, affecting a resource central to panda survival. China has worked to connect reserves through wildlife corridors so that protected areas function as a more connected habitat.

Overseas zoos contribute by helping fund research in the wild, training keepers and introducing millions of visitors to conservation science. At Beauval, the births of Yuan Meng, Huanlili and Yuandudu helped raise both awareness and money for such work.

The twins' continued presence gives the park a way to maintain that connection after their parents leave. Programs about forests, habitat connections and research can explain why caring for individual pandas and protecting the places where wild pandas live are both part of conservation.

A farewell with consequences for the Cher valley

Beauval recorded about two million visitors in 2023 and revenue of roughly 113 million euros. Huan Huan and Yuan Zi have been prominent ambassadors for the park, raising its profile across Europe during their years in France.

The pandas are one part of a wider collection that includes extensive primate and bird collections and major African and Asian habitats. The twins will also remain, giving visitors a continuing reason to see pandas after the adults return to China.

Hotels, guesthouses, restaurants, cafes and shops in the surrounding Loir et Cher department have benefited from the stream of visitors. For Saint Aignan sur Cher and the wider Cher valley, the pandas' popularity has connected an international conservation partnership with family holidays, school trips and local business.

Attendance may change after the adult pandas depart, although Beauval's attractions extend beyond a single species. The zoo plans farewell activities that recognize Huan Huan and Yuan Zi's contribution while avoiding unnecessary stress for the animals.

Staff will use those occasions to explain what the pair have taught French keepers and visitors about bamboo ecology, veterinary care and international cooperation. Discussions with Chinese partners about future collaboration are continuing as the zoo prepares for the November transfer.

For now, Beauval's priority is to keep Huan Huan stable through the journey and into her next stage of care. The departure will separate the daily routines of the parents and twins, while the partnership that brought the family to France continues.

The Bottom Line

• Huan Huan and Yuan Zi, both 17, will return to China in November 2025 after Huan Huan was diagnosed with kidney failure.
• The pair arrived at Beauval in 2012 and had been expected to remain until January 2027.
• Huan Huan is eating well and behaving normally. The zoo wants her to travel while her condition is stable.
• A sanctuary in the Chengdu area will provide care supported by teams experienced in treating older pandas.
• The pair produced France's first panda cub, Yuan Meng, in 2017 and twins Huanlili and Yuandudu in 2021.
• Yuan Meng returned to China in 2024. The twins will remain at Beauval for now.
• Beauval recorded about two million visitors and roughly 113 million euros in revenue in 2023.
• The zoo plans farewell activities and hopes to continue its partnership with China beyond 2027.