Giant pandas get police escort and warm welcome from fans as they return to DC zoo
The pandas arrived in the US on Tuesday morning
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A new set of giant pandas have arrived in Washington DC, marking the latest step in panda diplomacy.
Bao Li and Qing Bao touched down at Dulles International Airport Tuesday morning on a Fedex Boeing 777 cargo jet dubbed the “Panda Express.” TV footage showed the bears being transferred in crates from the airplane onto Fedex trucks emblazoned with a photo of a panda eating bamboo.
A group of airport handlers wearing neon vests that read “Fedex Panda Team” helped move the large bears.
Police escorted the pandas to the Smithsonian National Zoo, where they’ll spend the next 10 years of their lives being adored by millions of fans, many of whom were outside the zoo to greet them as they arrived just before noon. The zoo closed to the public on Tuesday.
Their public debut is scheduled for January 24, 2025.
The duo departed the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda on Monday evening local time in Dujiangyan.
To prepare the pandas for their 19-hour and roughly 8,000-mile journey, caretakers packed water, medicines and snacks like steamed corn bread, bamboo shoots and carrots.
The bears needed to undergo physical examinations and quarantines ahead of their departures from China.
The US sent three experienced keepers and veterinary experts to China to help escort the pandas to DC.
The bears will now be quarantined for a minimum of 30 days to acclimatize to their new environment and prevent the spread of any diseases.
Their new home is a sprawling habitat complete with a hammock, murals, climbing structures and a stable source of bamboo. Zoo officials launched a multi-million dollar renovation project of the enclosure in November 2023, when the facility said goodbye to its longtime panda residents Mei Xiang, 26 Tian Tian, 27, and their cub Xiao Qi Ji, 4.
It had been the first time in more than 20 years that the panda enclosure at the zoo had gone without its favorite black and white animals. China first began loaning pandas to the US in 1972.
As pandas began leaving zoos across the country, including in San Diego and Memphis, it became unclear if China would send another pair of the beloved mammals.
But last November while meeting with leaders at the APEC in San Francisco, Chinese President Xi Jinping hinted that a new pair of pandas would be heading to the National Zoo.
First Lady Jill Biden made the announced the news in a video message alongside the zoo’s directors in May.
“It’s official! The pandas are coming back to DC!” she said.
The aim of the zoo’s panda program is to breed the two bears. Any cubs they produce will return to China by the age of 4.
The zoo has agreed to pay a $1m annual fee to the China Wildlife Conservation Association in exchange for housing the bears. The pandas do not belong to the zoo and will be on a 10-year loan. It costs the zoo a total of $2.8m annually to house the animals.
One of the bears is related to former residents of the zoo. Bao Li is the son of Bao Bao, a female giant panda who was born at the zoo in 2013. He’s also the grandson of Mei Xiang and Tian Tian, the zoo’s most recent bears.
About two million people visit the zoo annually with the hope of catching a glimpse at the animals.
There are about 1,864 pandas in the wild. They stopped being considered an endangered species in 2016 and are now classified as vulnerable.
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