Giant pandas will return to the National Zoo in Washington, D.C., this year, officials announced Wednesday.
Two 2-year-old pandas, Bao Li and Qing Bao, will arrive at the Smithsonian National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute by the end of the year in a partnership with the China Wildlife Conservation Association, the zoo said in a news release, bringing cuddly joy to bear lovers across the country.
First lady Jill Biden partnered with National Zoo Director Brandie Smith and Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie G. Bunch III to announce the exciting news in a video Wednesday, joking about preparing for two special guests at the White House.
“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.!” she said.
Bao Li, a male whose name means “treasure” and “energetic” in Mandarin Chinese, and Qing Bao, a female whose name means “green” and “treasure,” were born at the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda in Sichuan.
Bao Li’s mother, Bao Bao, was born at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute in 2013, and his grandparents Tian Tian and Mei Xiang lived there from 2000 to 2023.
Animal lovers will be able to visit the bears at the zoo for free or watch their antics on the panda cam, which will relaunch at the zoo when the new pandas make their public debut.
Smith, the zoo's director, called the announcement a "historic moment."
“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,” she said.
Giant pandas Tian Tian, Mei Xiang and their cub, Xiao Qi Ji, returned to China last year as the panda loan agreement expired amid tense U.S.-China relations.
News of their departure sent fans flocking to the National Zoo to say farewell to the beloved black-and-white bears, who had long been among the zoo’s main attractions.
This new National Zoo loan agreement will be in effect for 10 years.
The panda programs at the National Zoo and other zoos across the U.S. are part of a breeding and conservation program — and their efforts are working. In the 1980s, there were an estimated 1,100 pandas in China, according to the World Wildlife Fund. Today, there are about 2,000 pandas living in the wild and hundreds more in zoos, moving the species from endangered to vulnerable.
Meanwhile, San Diego’s famed zoo says it, too, will receive two pandas this year, and San Francisco also expects to receive pandas, but there’s no timeline yet. Atlanta must return its four pandas this year