There are just a few weeks left to see D.C.’s favorite bears. The Smithsonian National Zoo has announced that the zoo’s giant pandas will leave the park in mid-November and head to China.
“People keep asking what’s life after pandas? And I just say, Is there life after pandas?” senior curator Bryan Amaral at the National Zoo said about the harsh reality of saying goodbye to the zoo’s famous fuzzy inhabitants.
Brandie Smith, the zoo’s director, said details of exactly when the pandas will return are still being worked out.
“But we do know that the pandas will be here for the first half of November,” she told WTOP.
No exact date has been given, but on the departure day, the three pandas will be loaded into specialized crates produced by FedEx and will take a special chartered flight from Dulles International Airport to Chengdu, China.
The specialized crate will be decked out with hundreds of pounds of bamboo and other treats for the 19-hour journey.
Mariel Lally, a zookeeper for the Panda exhibit will be one of three staff that will be making the trip with the pandas. Lally said zookeepers have been working on acclimating the bears to the enclosed space.
“Essentially, what we’ve been doing in the mornings is we bring them into the crate, give them a treat, usually honey water, and slowly start acclimating them to the door closing,” said Lally. “We are at the point now where all of the pandas would love to stay in the crate all day, and we actually have to bribe them to get them out of the crate.”
Lally, a second zookeeper and a veterinarian, will make the trip with a brief stop in Anchorage, Alaska for refueling.
The bears will then go into quarantine at the Shenshuping Panda Base on the Wolong Panda Reserve.
“Where they end up after quarantine is up to our colleagues in China,” said Lally.
She has worked closely with D.C’s three favorite bears over the past seven years and has particularly enjoyed working with 3-year-old Xiao Qi Ji.
“He knows my voice. And if I call his name, he comes running and he does this goofy run where his legs are flailing everywhere,” Lally commenting about the excellent relationship with his keepers.
Seeing the bears leave will be tough for the staff at the National Zoo.
“It’s going to be a rough transition to put it, you know, honestly, for most of us, and it’s going to take some time … there will probably be a little grieving process,” said Lally.
Amaral called it a bittersweet moment.
“There’s certainly a level of sadness that the pandas are leaving there. We’re saying so long to some old friends. But there’s no question that there’s a sense of achievement,” he said.
Both Mei Xiang and Tian Tian have been in D.C. since 2000. Since Mei’s arrival she has given birth to four surviving cubs.
Their research has helped increase the genetic diversity for pandas in captivity and helped scientists across the world better understand breeding habits.
In 2020 Mei Xiang gave birth to Xiao Qi Ji, becoming the oldest panda in the U.S. to give birth.
Zoo officials urge any visitors that want to see the pandas one last time to visit sooner than later.
“Come now, celebrate and enjoy these animals,” Smith said. “And then plan to come back because there will be pandas here again.”
When pressed if they had an upcoming agreement to receive new pandas from China Smith responded: “No. It is just my absolute faith in the fact that we can’t let this incredible conservation program end.”
