French zoo returns ill panda and partner to Chinaby AFP Staff WritersTours, France (AFP) Sept 22, 2025Two pandas at a zoo in central France will return to China in November after the female was diagnosed with kidney failure, the park's director told AFP on Monday. Huan Huan and her partner Yuan Zi arrived at the Beauval Zoo in 2012 as part of China's "panda diplomacy" programme, which sees the black-and-white bears dispatched across the globe as soft-power ambassadors. Delord said Huan Huan and Yuan Zi were expected to return to China in November 2025 "so they can live out their retirement in peace". The pair produced three cubs while in France -- the first pandas to do so in the country -- and became star attractions at the Beauval zoo in Saint-Aignan-sur-Cher. The Beauval Zoo welcomed some two million visitors in 2023, generating revenues of around 113 million euros ($133 million).