San Diego Zoo float featuring giant pandas wins top award at Rose Parade

The San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance's float, featuring giant pandas, won the top honor at the Rose Parade, the Sweepstakes Award. This marks the second consecutive year the zoo has received this recognition. The 50-foot float showcased pandas Yun Chuan and Xin Bao, who arrived from China in 2023. They are the first pandas in the U.S. in over 20 years, drawing significant public interest. The float, themed "Friendship Across the Earth," included over 20,000 roses and highlighted the zoo's conservation efforts. It also featured animated replicas of other Asian animals, emphasizing the zoo's commitment to wildlife preservation.