After an agreement is settled, the pandas are flown to their destination with "first class treatment," sometimes on FedEx or UPS, said Towne. Singapore Airlines even operated a special flight to transport that country's pandas.

Takeoff and landing is carefully timed, depending on the season or the time of day, to ensure the furballs are comfortable.

Pandas prefer a cooler climate -- around 10 to 20 degrees Celsius -- as their natural habitat are bamboo forests in the mountains of western China, said Gendron.