According to a CCTV news report, the Memphis Zoo in Tennessee announced on Dec. 21 local time that it will return the U.S. pandas Yaya and Lele to China, ending their 20-year lease.

Giant panda Yaya, female, Spectrum No. 507, was born on August 3, 2000, at the Beijing Zoo to giant panda Lele (Spectrum No. 320). In April 2003, she resided at the Memphis Zoo in Tennessee, USA.

On January 20, 2021, netizens broke the news that the Memphis Zoo in Tennessee, U.S.A., was suspected of taking poor care of giant pandas Yaya and Lele, with Yaya being thin and bony and suspected of severe stereotypical behavior, and that the living environment was poor, with no fresh bamboo to eat, and that the health and living conditions of the two pandas were a cause for concern, sparking widespread concern.

In response to this, the China Zoo Association responded that YaYa is over 20 years old, already belongs to the elderly, and has been suffering from skin disease so the state is not good. It is understood that there is no problem with the supply of bamboo and housing venues for pandas and will continue to communicate with the Memphis Zoo.

And the zoo said that the head of the American Association of Zoos and Aquariums Certification Committee has conducted a comprehensive assessment of the physical condition of Yaya and Lele, according to the diagnosis and physical examination records show that Yaya in addition to seasonal thinning of hair no malnutrition or other medical problems, the two pandas are in good health.