National Zoo's Giant Pandas Set to Return to China Weeks Ahead of Schedule

Zoo's three beloved pandas, an integral part of bilateral exchange program with China, are leaving amid unresolved negotiations and concerns of deteriorating diplomatic relations, with only the Atlanta Zoo's pandas remaining in the U.S. once they depart.

• The National Zoo’s three giant pandas, adult bears Mei Xiang and Tian Tian and their cub Xiao Qi Ji, will be returning to China in mid-November, weeks earlier than the initial expiration of the zoo's exchange agreement on Dec. 7.
• Unresolved negotiations for extending the agreement, against a backdrop of speculated deterioration in U.S.-China relations, fuel fears that China is gradually pulling its pandas from Western nations.
• The departure of the National Zoo's pandas means that the only pandas remaining in the U.S. will be at the Atlanta Zoo, whose loan agreement expires late next year as well.
• China currently lends out 65 pandas to 19 countries through cooperative research programs and aims to better protect the vulnerable species. All pandas return to China when they reach old age; cubs born in other countries return to China around age 3 or 4.
• National Zoo’s official says discussions with China Wildlife Conservation Association to develop a future giant panda program will likely start after the current pandas go back to China. The zoo remains hopeful of reaching a new agreement and intends to continue its giant panda conservation work.

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