Two giant pandas were on their way from China to Washington on Monday, less than a year after the National Zoo’s announcement. goodbye to the pandas loaned by China.
The pandas – Bao Li and Qing Bao – left Chengdu and are expected to arrive in Anchorage just before 10 p.m. local time, according to plane tracker FlightAware. From there, the Bears will head to Dulles, with a planned landfall around 9:55 a.m. ET on Tuesday.
“Something *giant* is coming to Washington, DC via the @FedEx Panda Express,” the National Zoo said in a social media post Monday. “The zoo will be closed to the public tomorrow, October 15. For the safety of the pandas and staff, we will not disclose any additional schedules.”
Roshan Patel/National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute
The National Zoo first received pandas from China in 1972, after President Richard Nixon’s trip to China to open diplomatic and trade relations between the United States and China. China “has used pandas to pursue diplomatic goals, a practice called panda diplomacy,” according to the Congressional Research Service.
In 2000, China sent Mei Xiang and Tian Tian to the National Zoo under an agreement with the China Wildlife and Conservation Association. Mei Xiang and Tian Tian were supposed to stay in the United States for 10 years, but the agreement was extended several times. The 2020 panda couple had a cub, Xiao Qi Ji.
Xiao Qi Ji and his parents were returned to China in November last year. After their departure, Zoo Atlanta was the only zoo in the United States housing giant pandas. Their pandas are expected to return to China this year.
Then the giant pandas returned to San Diego Zoo this summer for the first time since 2019. And in May, first lady Dr. Jill Biden joined Smithsonian officials to announce that pandas were returning to the nation’s capital.
Bao Li, a 2-year-old male, was born in Sichuan to father An An and mother Bao Bao. He already has ties to the United States: Bao Li’s mother was born at the National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute in 2013, and his grandparents, Mei Xiang and Tian Tian, lived at the National Zoo from 2000 to 2023 .
Qing Bao, the female panda on her way to the United States, is also 2 years old.
The pandas will be quarantined for at least 30 days after arriving at the National Zoo, depending on the facility. The quarantine will allow the zoo to reduce the risk of introducing parasites or diseases to other animals.
They will then have a few more weeks to settle into their new home before their public debut. The Smithsonian Zoo has yet to make a public debut, saying only that it will be announced “as soon as the animal care team deems the bears are ready to meet visitors.”
The giant panda is currently listed as vulnerable on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s red list.
The National Zoo is also home to red pandas.
