Bao Li and Qin Bao are due to arrive this year under a 10-year breeding and research agreement, the zoo said.
China will send a giant panda to the National Zoo in Washington, D.C., US First Lady Jill Biden and administration officials said in a surprise announcement, heralding a new era of panda diplomacy between the superpowers.
The zoo released a statement Wednesday celebrating the return of the animals, who are “beloved across the nation and around the world,” and said Bao Li and Qin Bao were expected to arrive in the United States by the end of the year under a 10-year breeding and research agreement.
“I’m thrilled that kids near and far can once again enjoy the adorable and fun-filled adventures of giant pandas at @NationalZoo,” the first lady posted to X.
Amid rising tensions between Washington and Beijing, only a handful of black-and-white bears remain in the United States, with three leaving the National Zoo six months ago.
But Chinese President Xi Jinping said after meeting U.S. President Joe Biden at a summit in California in November that China might send new pandas as “envoys of friendship between the Chinese and American peoples.”
The White House said it would be happy to see more bears chewing bamboo.
“We are pleased to announce the beginning of a new chapter in our breeding and conservation partnership by welcoming two new bears to Washington, D.C., including offspring of our beloved panda family,” said Brandy Smith of the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute.
“This historic moment is clear evidence that our collaboration with our Chinese colleagues has had an undeniable impact.”
China has been conducting “panda diplomacy” since 1972, when it first sent pandas to the United States as a gift during then-President Richard Nixon’s visit to the Communist nation.
Tensions between the two powers in recent years have led Beijing to recall some of the pandas to their home countries.
We look forward to children near and far being able to once again enjoy the adorable and fun-filled adventures of giant pandas at our Zoo. @National Zoo. 💕 https://t.co/wZAWdYcJ3n
— Jill Biden (@FLOTUS) May 29, 2024
The National Zoo’s three giant pandas – Mei Xiang and Tian Tian, who arrived in 2000, and their three-year-old baby Xiaoqizhi (“little miracle” in English) – returned to China on a cargo plane in November.
The last panda at a zoo in the southern United States, Atlanta, is due to return to China this year, but the Chinese government announced plans in February to send two more pandas to the San Diego Zoo.
The two cubs who arrived in Washington DC were both 2 years old and were born within a month of each other at a conservation centre in the southwestern province of Sichuan, where they remain in separate facilities.
Bao Li, a man with a name that means both “treasure” and “vigorous,” is something of a scion of a well-known Washington DC family.
Her mother, Bao Bao, was born at the zoo in the US capital in 2013, but her grandparents lived there from 2000 to 2023 and served as ambassadors for their species.
The female’s name, Aobao, means “green” and “treasure.”
The pandas will be kept in isolation in their new habitat for at least 30 days, under the supervision of a team of keepers, nutritionists and veterinarians.
The zoo says he will need a few more weeks to get acclimated to his new home before being released to the public on a date yet to be announced.
“We welcomed nearly 26 million visitors last year, a 16 percent increase over the previous year, and we can’t wait to welcome another 200,000,” Mayor Muriel Bowser posted on X.
“Bao Li and Qing Bao, we look forward to seeing you again!”
