Two pandas, Xingqiu and Yilan, touch down in Adelaide as only pair in Southern Hemisphere

Australia has welcomed a new pair of pandas, Xingqiu and Yilan, who arrived in Adelaide on Sunday morning after an 11-hour flight.

Xingqiu, a four-year-old male, and Yilan, a three-year-old female, were greeted by politicians as part of a renewed collaboration between China and Australia on giant panda conservation and research.

Flying in from southwest China’s Sichuan Province, where it is currently winter, the pandas were met with a sweltering 40C heat in Adelaide.

“They have air conditioning, just like we do, in the airplane,” said Chinese Consul-General to Adelaide Li Dong, who added that Xingqiu and Yilan symbolise the friendship between China and Australia.

In the first photos of them, both pandas seem to be settling in comfortably.

Yilan is lounging on the floor, relaxed with a bamboo shoot in hand, while Xingqiu holds several bamboo shoots, gazing into the camera.

Both pandas will undergo a four-week quarantine before making their public debut next month.

Xingqiu and Yilan are replacing the previous pandas Wang Wang and Fu Ni, who returned to China last month.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong said, “Like their predecessors, Xing Qiu and Yi Lan will be the only giant pandas in the southern hemisphere. I know they will bring joy to tourists from across the country and overseas, and pay dividends to the state’s tourism sector over the next decade.”

Wang Wang and Fu Ni spent 15 years at Adelaide Zoo, attracting over 5 million visitors during their stay.

It is expected that Xingqiu and Yilan will contribute to understanding giant panda reproduction in the southern hemisphere—a goal their predecessors, Wang Wang and Fu Ni, were unable to achieve after multiple failed breeding attempts.

However, it will be a few years before that happens, as Xingqiu and Yilan are not yet of breeding age.