After returning its pandas to China last November, the National Zoo in Washington, D.C., is set to receive a pair of 2-year-old pandas, marking their return to the nation’s capital.
In a news release from the zoo, officials shared that Bao Li and Qing Bao will arrive at the Smithsonian National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute by the end of the year.
The pandas will be in the United States as a part of a partnership with the China Wildlife Conservation Association. The partnership comes after tension had arisen between the US and China that resulted in the end of another deal that saw the US host the pandas.
First Lady Jill Biden worked with National Zoo Director Brandie Smith and Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie G. Bunch III to announce the news of the panda’s return.
“We can’t wait to celebrate this historic moment here in our nation’s capital. Join us. It’s official! The pandas are coming back to D.C.!” Biden said.
Bao Li, a male panda whose name means “treasure” and “energetic” in Mandarin, has family ties to the Smithsonian’s National Zoo as his mother, Bao Bao, was born at the zoo in 2013, and his grandparents, Tian Tian and Mei Xiang, lived there from 2000 to 2023.
Qing Bao is a female panda whose name means “green” and “treasure” in Mandarin.
Both of the pandas were born at the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda in Sichuan.
Smith shared that the return of pandas to the zoo is a “historic moment,” as animal lovers will now be able to visit the majestic creatures for free or watch their antics online via the panda cam which will relaunch once they arrive and make their debut.
“Through this partnership, we have grown the panda population, advanced our shared understanding of how to care for this beloved bear, and learned what’s needed to protect wild pandas and preserve native habitat,” Smith, the zoo’s director, said.
Like the last loan agreement, the pandas will stay in the US for 10 years, with the possibility of extending their stay after the term expires.
The last loan agreement lasted more than 13 years after the original 10-year loan ended.
The panda programs have helped restore the animal’s population around the world. According to the World Wildlife Fund, there were an estimated 1,100 pandas in China in the 1980s. Today, there are about 2,000 living in the wild and hundreds more in zoos.