MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Memphians and visitors are honoring beloved panda Le Le, who passed away last week after almost two decades at the Memphis Zoo.
“We’re here on vacation and we were expecting to see the two pandas and one of them is gone. How upsetting and sad,” said Spencer Fraseur, who was visiting the zoo from Texas.
“It’s been a long time that the panda has been here and it’s really sad to see it’s gone,” he said.
Memphis Zoo announced Friday, Feb. 3, 2023, that giant male panda Le Le died at 25-years-old. There is a pending medical investigation, but no cause of death has been determined, the zoo said.
“This is the first zoo or anything that we’ve been to with a panda. So, that was interesting to see,” said Jessa Thomas. “We came just a couple of weeks ago and we watched him eat bamboo and we watched him do silly stuff with his tongue. He was just so sweet and entertaining.”
Le Le, whose name translates to "happy happy," was born on July 18, 1998, and he was brought to the Memphis Zoo in 2003.
Le Le was expected to return to China soon with female panda Ya Ya as a loan agreement ended with the Chinese Association of Zoological Gardens.
For now, the zoo’s other giant panda, Ya Ya, is alone.
“She’s so pretty. It’s at least nice to see one panda,” said Fraseur. “Seems like she might be a little sad. Probably lost a partner. I’m sure she’s probably pretty depressed. It’s got to be tough. I feel for her, for sure.”
The life expectancy of a giant panda in the wild is about 15 years, but in captivity they have lived to be as old as 38. Decades of conservation efforts in the wild and study in captivity saved the giant panda from extinction, increasing its population from fewer than 1,000 at one time to more than 1,800 in the wild and captivity.