DC's Giant Pandas Depart Smithsonian Zoo For China

WASHINGTON, DC — The D.C. area's beloved giant pandas departed the Smithsonian's National Zoo on Wednesday morning to return to China, leaving the facility without a panda for the first time in over 50 years.

Mei Xiang, Tian Tian and their cub, Xiao Qi Ji, left the zoo around 9:30 a.m. Wednesday and were taken to Dulles International Airport, where they began their 19-hour trip to Chengdu, China, zoo officials said in a release.

The trip came about four weeks before the facility's current lease agreement with China was set to expire.

"As Tian Tian, Mei Xiang and Xiao Qi Ji depart for their new home in China, they leave behind a tremendous legacy in Washington, D.C.," zoo director Brandie Smith said in a statement. "It is exciting and humbling that people around the world have followed these pandas, shared in our joys and rooted for our success."

The furry trio left the United States in style Wednesday on the "FedEx Panda Express," a custom-decaled 777F aircraft and part of the company's FedEx Cares "Delivering for Good" initiative.

The pandas traveled in specialized crates and were accompanied by two panda keepers, a veterinarian, about 220 pounds of bamboo, and several pounds of biscuits, apples, carrots, sweet potatoes, sugar cane and pears.

When the pandas arrive in China, they will be met by their new keepers from the China Conservation and Research Center. Staff will drive the pandas to the ShenShuPing Campus in Wolong, where they will stay in quarantine for about 30 days.

Officials said the Smithsonian Zoo team will follow and remain with the pandas for a few days while they acclimate to their new home.

The first giant pandas came to the United States in 1972 after Chinese officials gifted two to former first lady Patricia Nixon and the American people as a gesture of goodwill. Nixon selected the National Zoo as the panda's home and welcomed Ling-Ling and Hsing-Hsing on April 16 that year.

Over the last 50 years, China has continued to own and lease all giant pandas in U.S. zoos. In 2000, the National Zoo entered a research and breeding agreement with the China Wildlife Conservation Association when giant pandas Mei Xiang and Tian Tian arrived at the zoo. According to zoo officials, the facility and the CWCA signed a 10-year agreement to lease the pandas, which the entities renewed three times since 2010.

The current contract allowed any cubs born at the National Zoo to stay until age four before they were sent back to China to become a part of the country's breeding program, zoo officials said.

Now, China wants its pandas back, according to a Washington Post report.

Great Britain will lose its last two pandas in December, the Post reported. Australia will return their pandas next year if an existing agreement is not extended.

The Atlanta Zoo is home to the four remaining pandas in the United States, all of which will return next year if a new deal isn't reached.