Pandas from China return to Washington, D.C., after beloved animals left National Zoo last year

Two giant pandas arrived at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C., Tuesday, less than a year after the nation’s capital said goodbye to another pair of pandas that were on loan from China.

The new pandas — Bao Li and Qing Bao — departed Chengdu, China, on Monday and made a stop in Anchorage, Alaska, according to plane tracker FlightAware.com. From there, the pandas left for Washington’s Dulles International Airport and landed at 9:53 a.m. EDT on Tuesday.

Two FedEx trucks then transported the pandas from the airport to the National Zoo. People cheered when the trucks decorated with giant panda pictures on the side and their police escort pulled into the zoo.

“Something *giant* is coming to Washington, D.C. via the @FedEx Panda Express,” the National Zoo said in a social media post Monday. “The Zoo will be closed to the public tomorrow, Oct. 15. For the safety of the pandas and staff, we will not disclose any additional timing.”

The National Zoo first received pandas from China in 1972 after President Richard Nixon’s trip to China to open diplomatic and trade relations between the two nations. China “has used pandas to pursue diplomatic objectives, a practice termed panda diplomacy,” according to the Congressional Research Service.

China in 2000 sent Mei Xiang and Tian Tian to the National Zoo as part of an agreement with the China Wildlife and Conservation Association. Mei Xiang and Tian Tian were supposed to stay in the U.S. for 10 years, but the agreement was extended several times. The pair of pandas in 2020 had a cub, Xiao Qi Ji. 

Xiao Qi Ji and his parents were returned to China in November of last year. After they left, Zoo Atlanta was the only zoo in the U.S. with giant pandas. Their pandas are set to return to China at some point this year. 

Then giant pandas returned to the San Diego Zoo this summer for the first time since 2019. And in May, first lady Dr. Jill Biden joined Smithsonian officials to announce pandas were coming back to the nation’s capital. 

Bao Li, a 3-year-old male, was born in Sichuan to father An An and mother Bao Bao. He already has ties to the U.S.: Bao Li’s mother was born at the National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute in 2013 and his grandparents, Mei Xiang and Tian Tian, lived at the National Zoo from 2000 to 2023.

Qing Bao, the female panda loaned to the U.S., is also 3 years old.

The pandas will be quarantined for at least 30 days after they arrive at the National Zoo, according to the facility. Quarantine will allow the zoo to reduce the risk of introducing parasites or disease to other animals.

They’ll then have a few more weeks to settle into their new home before their public debut. The Smithsonian Zoo said the public debut would be on Jan. 24, with a member preview from Jan. 10-19.

The giant panda is currently listed as vulnerable on the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List. 

The National Zoo is also home to red pandas.

Correction: An earlier version of this article misstated the ages of Bao Li and Qing Bao. They are 3.

contributed to this report.