After traveling 7,000 miles from China, two giant pandas made their official debut at the San Diego Zoo August 8. Five-year-old male Yun Chuan and four-year-old female Xin Bao—two round-faced, furry, black-and-white heartthrobs—can be seen munching on bamboo and lumbering around Panda Ridge, a newly built habitat at the San Diego Zoo.
The bears’ home at the zoo in San Diego is designed to imitate their native terrain in China’s Sichuan, Gansu, and Shaanxi provinces. Panda Ridge has rolling topography, tree logs, boulders, climbing structures, leafy bamboo, and lush plants—and it’s four times larger than the zoo’s previous panda habitat.
San Diego’s Historic Panda Connection
The San Diego Zoo’s panda history dates to 1996, when China’s Wolong Panda Preserve loaned the zoo two bears as part of a collaborative conservation effort. One panda was Yun Chuan’s grandmother, who lived at the zoo for 23 years. The life expectancy of giant pandas in the wild is about 15 years, but they live much longer in captivity, according to the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance.
Between 1996 and 2019, six panda cubs were born at the zoo, including Yun Chuan’s mother in 2007. By 2019, all of San Diego’s pandas had been returned to China. In February 2024, the China Wildlife Conservation Association and the San Diego Zoo signed a cooperative agreement that resulted in the 10-year loan of Yun Chuan and Xin Bao.
The panda pair enchant zoo visitors with their cuddly appearance and antics, but they also serve as diplomats. For decades, China’s much-loved bears have traveled around the world to strengthen foreign relations. Pandas first played a diplomatic role between the U.S. and China during the Nixon administration in 1972, when Beijing gifted a pair of pandas to the National Zoo in Washington, D.C.
How to See the Pandas Now
There are three ways you can experience the San Diego Zoo’s giant pandas:
Get timed tickets. When you arrive at the zoo, scan the ticket QR code on signs located on the main plaza and throughout the zoo. Select an available time (slots are available every 15 minutes between 9:30 a.m. and 3 p.m. daily), then head to the timed ticket line at Panda Ridge at the designated time. You can also request a timed ticket at any ticket booth window. Timed tickets are free and available at the zoo only on the day of your visit.
Head to the standby line. If you don’t want to commit to a time, you can join the standby line at Panda Ridge. Panda lovers start lining up at 9:30 a.m.
Take a special walking tour. For an extra fee, ranging from $92 to $115 (in addition to the San Diego Zoo admission fee), you can reserve a spot in the Early Morning with Pandas tour. Led by a panda expert, the hourlong behind-the-scenes walking tour starts at 8:15 or 8:30 a.m. and is open to adults and children ages 5 and up. Reserve online in advance as reservations sell out quickly.
Plan Your Trip
The pandas are just one way to see awe-inspiring wildlife in San Diego County. Build your trip around seeing pandas and koalas—and enjoying other special experiences at the zoo—and then be sure to check out the zoo’s sprawling sister property in Escondido, the San Diego Zoo Safari Park.