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The National Zoo’s long dark panda drought has come to an end. Eleven months after the Smithsonian zoo in Washington, D.C.
, sent its three wildly popular pandas — Mei Xiang, Tian Tian and their cub Xiao Qi Ji — back to China , a new pair of bears arrived late Tuesday morning. The 3-year old giant pandas, named Bao Li and Qing Bao, were flown from China to Dulles International Airport in suburban Virginia, with a refueling stop in Alaska. They were loaded into special FedEx trucks and arrived at the zoo just before noon.
Pandas have become one of the unofficial symbols of the nation’s capital, dating to 1972 when Ling Ling and Hsing Hsing were sent as a gift from China following President Richard Nixon’s historic diplomatic visit there. In this image taken from video and released by China's National Forestry and Grassland Administration, a pair of giant pandas Bao Li and Qing Bao are prepared for loading onto a plane at the Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport in southwestern China's Sichuan province on Monday, Oct. 14, 2024.
(Jin Tao/China's National Forestry and Grassland Administration via AP) AP In this image taken from video and released by China's National Forestry and Grassland Administration, female giant panda Qing Bao is prepared for transport from the Dujiangyan Base of the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda in southwestern China's Sichuan province on Monday, Oct. 14, 2024. (Jin Tao/China's National Forestry and Grassland Administration via AP) AP The zoo was closed Tuesday to facilitate the arrivals.
The bears will be quarantined from the public for at least 30 days. A statement from the zoo set the date for the bears’ public debut and the reopening of the renovated panada house as Jan. 24, 2025.
Bao Li (precious vigor) and Qing Bao (green treasure) arrived in Washington as part of a new 10-year agreement with Chinese authorities. The previous deal expired last year, leading to some concern among American panda-lovers that Beijing was gradually pulling its furry friendship ambassadors from American zoos amid rising diplomatic tensions. Breeding pairs in zoos in Memphis and San Diego had already returned to China earlier, and the four pandas in the Atlanta zoo left for China last week.
However, the San Diego Zoo has two giant pandas again, as of two months ago. They can be seen via the zoo’s “Panda Cam,” which launched Tuesday. Click here to watch the Panda Cam “Xin Bao and Yun Chuan have acclimated beautifully to their expansive, bamboo-filled homes and now their playful antics and natural behaviors can be observed from anywhere,” the zoo said in a news release.
People who want to watch the cam are asked to provide an email address, which signs them up for the zoo newsletter. The zoo says 4-year-old Xin Bao is the smaller bear. She “is easily recognized by her large, round face and big ears.
” Spunky Xin Bao is said to be the better climber. Female panda Xin Bao looks out from her enclosure at the San Diego Zoo on Aug. 8, 2024.
Xin Bao and her mate, Yun Chuan, arrived at the zoo earlier this summer and are the first giant pandas to enter the United States in 21 years. (Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Times/TNS) TNS The 5-year-old male panda, Yun Chuan, is the grandson of Bai Yun and Gao Gao , two giant pandas that lived at the San Diego Zoo for decades.
And his mother is Zhen Zhen, who was born at the zoo in 2007. Yun Chuan is said to be identifiable by his long, slightly pointed nose. Story by Ashraf Khalil and Didi Tang, The Associated Press; and Amy Hubbard, the Los Angeles Times (TNS) More Life & Culture news Singer’s call out of Trump has the MAGA crowd upset on social media Popular ‘90s rock band forced to end anniversary tour due to illness Metallica and Linkin Park to headline Sick New World 2025: Where to buy tickets.
