In an elaborate announcement video, First Lady Jill Biden broke the news that she’s expecting—the return of giant pandas to the National Zoo.
Following a prolonged period of diplomatic tension with China, all but one zoo in the country was panda-less, but after signing a new 10-year lease agreement for the purpose of scientific research, improving relations, and delighting visitors, D.C. is set to have a new pair of pandas by the end of this year.
2-year-old Bao Li is the son of Bao Bao, the female panda born at the zoo in 2013 to parents who left last year after tensions between the US and China reached a fever pitch.
Bao Li will be joined by Qing Bao, a 2-year-old female who is believed to be a possible breeding partner.
Arriving via FedEx’s special ‘Panda Express’ airline which has been transporting pandas across the world for 15 years, Chinese ambassador Xie Feng dubbed the duo “our new envoys of friendship.”
Washingtonians and visitors to our nation’s capital from across the country will have 10 years to see them under an agreement that will see the National Zoo pay a $1 million per annum lease fee—100% of which goes to panda conservation in China.
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“We’ll have a few years just to enjoy these two, and then people can start asking about cubs,” National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute director Brandie Smith told Axios.
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‘Panda Diplomacy’ by China dates back to late Maoist rule in China, when First Lady Pat Nixon told the country of the arrival of the first giant pandas in an American zoo in 1972 after she and her husband’s historic visit to Beijing.
Far from being just a method of warming relations, China’s cooperation with zoos across the world has yielded some of the most important discoveries in panda biology, that have informed conservation and captivity strategies at home.
WATCH the announcement video below…
It’s official: the pandas are coming to D.C.!
— National Zoo (@NationalZoo) May 29, 2024
Alongside @FLOTUS, we’re thrilled to announce that by the end of this year, the Zoo will once again be home to two giant pandas. #DCPandas pic.twitter.com/BGJjjaUVve
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Editor’s Note: This story has been altered by correcting the first lady who visited China.