Adelaide Zoo to welcome its new panda pair by Christmas with Wang Wang and Fu Ni jetting out of SA this week

A welcome date for Adelaide’s newest pandas has landed as Wang Wang and Fu Ni jetted off to China.

Adelaide Zoo will welcome its new pandas as early as Christmas, as Wang Wang and Fu Ni jetted off for their long journey home on Friday morning.

After 15 years in South Australia, the famously unfruitful couple waved their paws goodbye Friday morning as they boarded the flight from Adelaide Airport.

The plane was stocked with 20-30kg of bamboo sticks, vegetables and ‘panda cakes’ made of mulched bamboo and sugar.

Wang Wang with a treat box on Thursday morning, ahead of his journey home on Friday. Picture: RoyVPhotography

Wang Wang and Fu Ni are expected to touch down in China by 9pm Friday, ACDT. Picture: RoyVPhotography

While they never produced baby pandas, Zoos SA chief executive Elaine Bensted said scientific research into Wang Wang and Fu Ni’s behaviour had improved the species’ chances of survival.

But South Australians expecting different results with the new pair, Xing Qiu and Yi Lan, will have to be patient, as it will be another three to four years before they begin trying to breed according to Ms Bensted.

They will remain in quarantine until mid-January before being released into their enclosure.

Fu Ni lying down after her delicious meal. Picture: RoyVPhotography

“There aren’t many species in the world that have actually improved their endangered status, but that’s what we’ve seen while Wang Wang and Fu Ni have been here,” she said.

“There will be some tears at saying goodbye, but there’s also a lot of pride at what they’ve achieved while they’ve been here.”

In a historic declaration, the risk of extinction to pandas was downgraded from ‘endangered’ to ‘vulnerable’ in September by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature.

Habitat loss through deforestation and selective breeding behaviours saw the wild panda population drop to a under 1200 in the 1980s, but that number has climbed to more than 1800 over the last decade.

Wang Wang and Fu Ni are expected to touch down in China at 9pm Friday, ACDT.