Pandas returning to DC National Zoo

Giant panda Bao Li, destined for D.C.'s National Zoo

The pandas will remain in Washington until April 2034

(Image credit: Sha Hanting / China News Service / VCG via Getty Images)

published 30 May 2024

What happened

The Smithsonian National Zoo said Wednesday that China is sending two giant pandas to Washington, D.C., before the end of the year. Bao Li and Qing Bao, both 2, will arrive roughly a year after the zoo's previous pandas, Tian Tian and Mei Xiang — Bao Li's grandparents — returned to China with their cub, Xiao Qi Ji.

"I am filled with such joy right now," said Brandie Smith, the zoo's director. "I don't think we thought it would happen this quickly." Chinese Ambassador Xie Feng encouraged "everyone to care for China-U.S. relations just as you care for pandas."

The announcement "was a surprise, given the tense relationship between the United States and China," The Washington Post said. Only one panda family remains in the U.S., at Zoo Atlanta, and they will "return to China later this year," The Associated Press said. The San Diego Zoo could get a pair of pandas this summer.

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.