The Smithsonian’s National Zoo in Washington, D.C. has revealed that the three giant pandas currently residing there will be returned to China by December 7. This announcement was made in press releases on August 21 and August 27, marking the birthdays of panda Xiao Qi Ji and his father Tian Tian, respectively. These statements emphasized that this would be the pandas’ last birthday celebration in the District of Columbia.
The zoo shared that Mei Xiang, a 25-year-old female giant panda, her 3-year-old son Xiao Qi Ji, and Tian Tian will be leaving the zoo by December. To bid them farewell, the National Zoo will be hosting a “Panda Palooza” event from September 23 to October 1. Further details about this event will be released in early September.
Once the pandas depart, the National Zoo will be without pandas for the first time in over 50 years. The first pandas, Hsing-Hsing and Ling-Ling, arrived at the zoo in April 1972 as a gift from China. During President Richard Nixon’s visit to China in February 1972, the first lady expressed her fondness for pandas she had seen at the Beijing zoo, leading to Hsing-Hsing and Ling-Ling being sent to the United States. Unfortunately, both pandas passed away in the 1990s without any surviving offspring. Mei Xiang and Tian Tian, their replacements, have lived at the National Zoo since December 6, 2000.
Mei Xiang and Tian Tian were both born at the China Research and Conservation Center for the Giant Panda in Sichuan province. They have parented several cubs, though all of Tian Tian’s cubs were conceived through artificial insemination due to the challenges of natural breeding in captivity for giant pandas. Their first cub, Tai Shan, was born in 2005 and was sent to China in 2010. In 2011, the National Zoo and the China Research and Conservation Center for the Giant Panda signed an agreement stating that Mei Xiang and Tian Tian would remain at the zoo until December 2015. All cubs born to them would be sent to China at the age of four. Since the agreement was signed, six cubs have been born, including the recently celebrated Xiao Qi Ji.
Mei Xiang’s second cub passed away at one week old, while her third cub, Bao Bao, was sent to China before her fourth birthday. Mei Xiang also gave birth to stillborn twins after Bao Bao’s birth, and in 2015, she had another set of twins, one of which did not survive. The surviving twin, a male named Bei Bei, lived at the National Zoo until November 2019 when he departed for China.
In December 2020, a three-year extension to the agreement was signed, allowing Mei Xiang and Tian Tian to stay at the zoo until most of 2023. After their departure, panda enthusiasts can visit Zoo Atlanta for their giant panda fix, as they will host pandas until 2024.
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