A pair of giant pandas will join the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute (NZCBI) by the end of the year, the zoo announced May 29.
The two pandas, two-year-old male Bao Li and two-year-old female Qing Bao, will live at the zoo as part of a ten-year research and breeding agreement between NZCBI and the China Wildlife Conservation Association (CWCA).
The agreement comes seven months after Tian Tian, Mei Xiang and Xiao Qi Ji, the zoo’s previous pandas, returned to China when the previous agreement expired after 23 years. Bao Li is the grandchild of Tian Tian and Mei Xiang, through their daughter Bao Bao, who was born at the zoo in 2013 and returned to China in 2017.
NZCBI Director Brandie Smith, who helped create the agreement, said the new pandas joining the NZCBI represents an important collaboration between the United States and China for conservation.
“This historic moment is proof positive our collaboration with Chinese colleagues has made an irrefutable impact,” Smith said in a press release. “Through this partnership, we have grown the panda population, advanced our shared understanding of how to care for this beloved bear and learned what’s needed to protect wild pandas and preserve native habitat.”
Pandas lived at NZCBI continuously from 1972 until Tian Tian, Mei Xiang and Xiao Qi Ji returned to China last year. Bao Li and Qing Bao will stay at the zoo until April 2034, though any cubs they have will return to China before the end of the agreement.
This is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available.