San Diego is sending its best to Pasadena’s Rose Parade on New Year’s Day.
This year’s Rose Parade theme, “Best Day Ever,” is intended to honor milestones and important moments that make life worth living.
This year, the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance — which received the “Most Beautiful Entry” award for its display last year celebrating the history of the San Diego Zoo, “It Began With a Roar” — will have a float dedicated to pandas and the ecosystems that sustain them.
The float is intended to honor and showcase the first giant pandas to enter the United States in more than two decades.
The float will feature articulated mockups of the two pandas surrounded by bamboo. The model Xin Bao will turn her head as Yun Chuan eats bamboo shoots.
Five-year-old male Yun Chuan and four-year-old female Xin Bao made their public debut at the San Diego Zoo on Aug. 8, 2024, which was then designated “California Panda Day” by Governor Gavin Newsom.
Individual plants grown and propagated at the San Diego Zoo, including three different types of bamboo, will also be added to the float. The giant pandas and plants will be joined by red pandas, Malaysian tigers, and waterfalls, as well as SDZWA representatives.