Female giant panda Ya Ya arrived in Shanghai, east China on Thursday after 20 years of stay at the Memphis Zoo in the U.S. state of Tennessee. She will spend a month in quarantine in Shanghai before returning to her birthplace, Beijing Zoo.

Shanghai Zoo has set up a special isolation, quarantine site, including indoor animal houses equipped with air conditioners, and outdoor playgrounds with sufficient bamboo and supplementary food for Ya Ya, according to the National Forestry and Grassland Administration.

During the quarantine period, an expert team from Beijing Zoo will stay on site to accompany Ya Ya 24 hours a day to care for her daily and health needs, and help her adjust to life back home as soon as possible, it said.

The remains of Le Le, who died at Memphis Zoo on February 1, 2023, was also returned home on the same plane.

The final results support initial conclusions of the autopsy that heart disease may have been the main cause of Le Le's death, the Chinese Association of Zoological Gardens said on Thursday. 

Ya Ya was born at Beijing Zoo on August 3, 2000. She arrived at Memphis Zoo in April 2003, along with giant panda Le Le as envoys of friendship, and was warmly welcomed. 

Memphis Zoo announced in December 2022 that it would return Ya Ya to China. Hundreds of people said goodbye to Ya Ya on April 8 at her farewell event at the zoo ahead of her return to China.

The initial agreement for Ya Ya's stay in the U.S. was for 10 years, and it was extended for another decade in 2013.

However, concerns were reignited following Le Le's sudden death. Despite speculation over whether the pandas were mistreated in the zoo, Memphis Zoo has repeatedly said they were in excellent health considering their age.

In February, a Chinese expert group arrived at Memphis Zoo to check Ya Ya's health. According to the experts, a skin disease caused hair loss in Ya Ya, but she had a good appetite, normal excrement and stable weight.

A veterinarian and a keeper from Beijing Zoo reached Memphis Zoo last month and finalized preparations for her trip home. Working along with experts from the Chinese Association of Zoological Gardens, who had arrived earlier, they got acquainted with the living habits and feeding conditions of Ya Ya.

They also worked together with the U.S. staff for Ya Ya's breeding, nursing and health assessment and made further preparations for her return to ensure a safe and sound trip.

The veterinarian noted that Memphis Zoo has a relatively sound management system and operation procedures, adding that, currently, Ya Ya's body weight and health condition are relatively stable.

"In order to look after Ya Ya better after returning to China, we had conducted interactions and learned some training gestures and training commands from our counterparts from Memphis Zoo," said Beijing Zoo personnel.

Read more:

Tumultuous life story of giant panda Ya Ya, a 20-year 'expat' in U.S.

Ya Ya is coming home, not a moment too soon